TreadWeary

Every once in a while...

2012-01-23T08:15:00.002-06:00

So Abram went up from Egypt,...to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. - Genesis 13:1-4

Abram is us. Not in the sense that we are an elderly man thousands of years ago who had a child in our old age. But we are idolaters like he. We always pay homage to things less than Christ and think nothing of it. We allow for life and circumstances to get in the way and supplant the pedestal where which the Cross once stood.

We are called from our normal lives to one's centered on a promised land. A place where we are called to live set apart for us as God's people. In this land it is specially suited for us, but there is still heartache and famine. Quarrels with family and friends take place regularly. It can be lush with greenery and dry like a desert. It may even force us to abandon it's borders on occasion in order to better care for those around us.

In this abandonment though, we are always called back to the place where we once were. To the land and home Christ has bought with His precious blood. To the hill where an altar was built with the stone that was rolled away so that we might worship God freely. Where there is no need for sacrifice but just a need to call on Him for the mercy found in the once-and-for-all-time death on our behalf. It is not perfumed by lights and stage effects or symphonies and organs, but is dressed in the one Name that is stronger and more powerful than any other: Jesus Christ. God's Chosen One who saves His people from certain death. The sin-bearer who bore the sins that were even committed against Him when He was nailed to the tree.

Worship is always about a returning. A traveling from a place not preoccupied by God to a place where all we can do is call on His name. Because it is a lifestyle not a moment. A daily being not an hour arbitrarily set aside one day in seven. Not in any special way or with cool parlour tricks, but just in a crying out to Him for His steadfast love and grace which surpasses our own understanding. For He is a God who saves. A God who loves. Who seeks a people who might call on Him every once in a while.

TW

A beginning of the good news...

2012-01-13T21:16:00.004-06:00

A beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ. As it was written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, a voice crying in the desert, 'All of you prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His well beaten paths!'" John came about baptizing in the desert and proclaiming publicly a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins. - Mark 1:1-4

[With a new year comes a new task. Not one as daunting as previously attempted, but in many ways it could be. The church year is Year B in the cycle of the three year lectionary, and since I am working on my Koine Greek, I thought it fitting to do translation of the Gospel of Mark for our study this year. I am hoping to do two verses a day and glean something new as we move along together.]

In order for the Lord to get us ready for Him, He needed someone to prepare our hearts. Like the shrimp cocktail at a steakhouse, John came to get the people ready for the proper meal, for God to come to man. In so doing, John came before Christ. Before, both meaning prior to and in front of. He came to the people prior to Christ beginning His ministry, but did it also before His face (pro prosopou sou) or in His sight so as to say "It is time for You."

Given a specific message, "Prepare the way of the Lord!", John made it an imperative. Even more so he calls us to make straight the beaten paths. The roads or highways are described as "tas tribous": roads that have been walked regularly. In many ways they could be the meandering paths through the mountains and forests that are never straight but go in whatever direction the wind blows. These paths dominated by sin. Sin that takes us in the direction it wishes. More so that when we are to make them straight, we are to move ahead towards the direction he calls away from these sins without wavering. A way in which we go towards a goal. Towards Calvary. Towards the place prepared through Christ for us through His death.

As a forerunner to a washing through the blood of Christ, John "came into existence", came for the purpose of, baptizing in the desert. It is not as though he was born and chose the occupation of nomadic bodywasher. He came to baptize people in a dirty place (in sin?) and make known to them this baptism based on repentance. This repentance then bringing forgiveness for sins. It was not the same forgiveness as what Christ brings. There is no definite article so it speaks of a forgiveness. A temporary happening so that we might taste and see that the Lord is good and desire the forgiveness He offers. One that lasts longer than a momentary bath and one that is the good news for you and for me.

TW

Making of you...

2011-12-31T09:16:00.003-06:00

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." - Matthew 28:16-20

The disciples went where Jesus had commanded. This, in many respects, goes against much of what they displayed during His earthly ministry. But here they trust in what He said. We should do the same. If He said your sins are forgiven, believe it. If He said that He will come again, believe it. If He tells you to come to Him so you might have rest, do it.

What we do see though is that just because Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah sent to save His people, the Word of God, none of that guarantees that we will believe. His own disciples, who saw Him arrested, who saw or at least heard of His death, who saw the empty tomb, and who saw the risen Lord, doubted. They stood before Him now and trusted enough to obey His call to go to the mountain, but they still had doubts. Are they celebrated for this? No. Are they condemned because of it? No. Instead they are given the same charge as the others.

Interesting that Christ begins His commission by touting His power in all creation. This comes as a preamble. As a disclaimer that He will accomplish what He will through us, regardless of what we perceive as effectiveness. Because we are commanded to make disciples of He who has saved us. Not disciples of us, or of a church, or of a religion, but of a person who did something for them.

When we make disciples, we make learners. They are not automatically perfected nor fully devoted, but are committed to learn from Christ. They are not listeners who hear Him and choose to learn or not. They are learners who are going to learn from Him and become like Him.

They are set apart through baptism. Disciples are not made through baptism, but disciples are baptized. We, when we have been baptized, are sealed by the Word through the promise of Christ. We die with Him and are raised to newness of life through His resurrection. This does not guarantee that we will continue as His disciples. Many who are baptized as infants never come to faith. Many who are baptized as believers fall away. It is faith in the promise that we are given in baptism that brings salvation.

In the same way a disciple is one that is taught. Taught what the Teacher has taught. Hears, listens, and learns what He teaches to try and understand and apply it to their life so as to live as the Teacher, not just be a passive observer.

Growth as a disciple is a participatory action. It does not have an ending, but it does have a beginning. It began in Bethlehem, in a manger when God came into the world as a baby born to die for His people. It continues to the cross that day outside Jerusalem 2000 years where the disciple's sins were taken on by the Savior in order to be buried in that tomb when He rose from the grave. The good news is that even though we may doubt or fail, because of what He did for us, He is always with us. He will never leave us because He bought us through His blood.

TW

He is not here...

2011-12-30T08:44:00.003-06:00

Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise again.' Therefore order the sepulchre to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away, and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last fraud will be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can." So they went and made the sepulchre secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. Now after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. Lo, I have told you." So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Hail!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." - Matthew 27:62-28:10

He is risen. What else must be said? It is fitting to close the year with the resurrection. Beginning the new year with remembering how we were made new by He who took our transgressions, died with them, left them in the grave and rose to defeat all sin and death. Not to bring down shame upon the religious but to release them from the bondage of their religion.

The Pharisees, however, wished to hold their religiosity as long as possible. They even break their sacred law of the Sabbath, according to Barclay, by approaching a Gentile on the Sabbath. It was after the preparation of the Sabbath, so after 6pm when they came to Pilate and begged him to keep the Son of God in the grave. They knew it might be true, but they did not want it to be so they wished to keep Him there in death. Pilate responds, and Barclay makes this good point, "make it as secure as you can." As though he says, "do what you can, if you think you can."

Unlike the leaders, Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" were rewarded for dedication. Maybe they came in anticipation of seeing what He had said would happen. They were there at the cross watching their Lord die. They were there sitting across from the tomb as He was laid to rest behind the stone. Maybe because of these things, Mary and Mary were the first ones there to see the risen Savior. They were the ones greeted by the angel and told of the greatness of this King who defeated His enemies.

He tells them not to fear for He is the God of the living not the dead. Therefore He could not be kept in the grave. He is One who is about the welfare of His people by raising them from the dead. By bringing life to those dead in sin.

He commands us to "Come, and see!" Come to the Lord and see Him for who He is. Clothed in majesty. Raised in glory. A Jesus who makes all things new, so when you come you are changed. When you see Him for who He is and what He has done for you, washing you clean from all that makes you filthy, you are made new.

Because of these things, "Go and tell." Not just the angel but the Savior says to go and tell the brethren. Go and tell those who are waiting. Those who think they know but don't. Even those who don't know but may. Go and tell them of the risen Jesus who lives and loves them through this life that has risen from the grave for them.

In the end, the soldiers, who were made like dead men, did the same. They went and told the leaders of what they heard and saw. The leaders, some must have believed, chose to hide the truth by bribing the messengers. They would rather hold to lies that keep their chains tight then believe and be released from bondage. Amazing that even the Lord's enemies, those who He could save with one drop of His blood, chose to hide the power of His death and the life in His resurrection, then to trust that what He said He would do, He did.

TW

Victory for you...

2011-12-29T09:22:00.002-06:00

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, la'ma sabach-tha'ni?" that is, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" And some of the bystanders hearing it said, "This man is calling Elijah." And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him." And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split; the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!" There were also many women there, looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him; among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulchre. - Matthew 27:45-61

The Lord is not a God who can handle sin. He is one who wishes to banish it from His sight. So much so that before our first parents ushered in the world of sin and brokenness, God already had a remedy in mind. "The seed of the woman." Jesus Christ.

Upon taking up the cross, Christ began to soak up every sin and shame the world had to offer. As this happened the assumption begins that God forsook His own Son because He had become sin for us. Jesus had taken upon Himself every punishment God can deliver for sin so as to redeem the whole creation. It is no wonder then that He would cry out to God in despair, wondering where the Lord had gone.

Before He dies, He again cries out with a loud voice. Matthew does not record what He says, but Luke does. "It is finished!" Imagine the silence of some of the witnesses and the derision of the others as this Man hangs before them. He has just cried out in despair searching for God. Speaking in Aramaic in such a manner that people are confused thinking He is calling for Elijah to save Him. Then, as though they expect something else, they hear Him raise up His voice as loud as possible: "IT...IS...FINISHED!!!!"

Thus ends the war. The battle for souls has only begun, but the war against sin is finished. Every sin you have ever, and will ever, commit has gone with Him. The thoughts you had last night? Forgiven. The words you spoke in anger this morning? No more. They were taken willingly by the One who willingly gave up His life for us.

There is no barrier to keep us from God any longer. Nothing is given partiality as holy anymore. His shout of victory tore the curtain that kept people from the presence of God. It shook the heavens and the earth as it made them new. It opened the tombs of those long dead. There could not have been another way. Only with such a voice, such an act, can He proclaim to the depths of hell the victory won by the blood of the cross.

It took such an action to prove to eyewitnesses His position as the Son of God. Only once the victory was won and the world shaken, did even a pagan announce the reality of this Man as the Son of God. Only through the impact of such a sacrifice for you and for me can we confess such a reality. Only once we know our sins and what they did can we then know for certain what was done for us.

TW

Believe in unbelief...

2011-12-28T09:11:00.003-06:00

Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they spat upon him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him. As they went out, they came upon a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; this man they compelled to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull), they offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, "This is Jesus the King of the Jews." Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him; for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. - Matthew 27:26-44

Hail to the King of the Jews. Let us bring Him into the courts we have made and clothe Him in robes of derision. Let us adorn Him with the spit from our tongues and crown Him with thorns. Place a reed in His hands as a scepter and mock Him with false humility where we take His name in vain.

Once we have had our fill of preparing Him for His crowning achievement, let's lead Him away with His cross as His thrown. There find a passerby to bear it for Him since He has been bruised, bloodied and broken. When we reach the throne room, strip Him and allow the Son of God, the Word made flesh, to be found in His nakedness by every pedestrian and onlooker who may walk the trail to Jerusalem. Then let's call Him names, be found in our disbelief in what He had said of Himself.

"You would destroy the temple only to build it again in three days? Then do it." Oh, but He was. He was rending the walls and the accoutrements of the halls of worship through the nails and the tree. It was to be destroyed as soon as His work was done. He could not come down, as we asked, until He was done tearing down each and every brick. Then it would be days before He would rebuild it again. But it was to be new. For He was making all things new in that place, on that day, years ago outside Jerusalem.

"You saved others, so then save yourself." He was doing the first and need not do the second. He may have brought a message to those in despair during His ministry, but it was not until the first drop of blood fell to the ground that He began what He came to do. This Jesus, this God who saves, had saved and was saving others.

He could not come down until every sin had been soaked up by His broken body there on the cross. We believe that we would have believed if He had come down. But it was for our unbelief that He was there nailed. It was because we did not believe Him, and could not believe Him, that He bore the sins of us all so as to bring us life through trust in this death for us. Once He had done this, then we can believe, or else anything we believe about Him is not profitable. Nothing saves but His blood.

TW

His blood be upon us...

2011-12-27T14:53:00.003-06:00

When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death; and they bound him and led him away and delivered him to Pilate the governor. When Judas, his betrayer, saw that he was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, "I have sinned in betraying innocent blood." They said, "What is that to us? See to it yourself." And throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money." So they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me." Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You have said so." But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?" But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge; so that the governor wondered greatly. Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you, Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ?" For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, "Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much over him today in a dream." Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the people to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said, "Let him be crucified." And he said, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified." So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." And all the people answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!" - Matthew 27:1-25

If only Judas had known. If only he had known that the Christ was destined to be condemned to death from all eternity. It is even more evident here that an argument can be made that he rests with the other disciples in the arms of the King. He thought he was bringing about a revolution in which he would be a chief in the King's house. When he saw that the Man known as Jesus was going to die, and not find victory over the oppressors, he was broken. He repented and came to the only place he thought he could find forgiveness.

That's where the temple was most needed. Sins being forgiven was it's business, just like Christ (tear down this temple?). But those who should have comforted him and brought him back into relationship with God turned him away. "What is that to us? Deal with it yourself." How can we? Where can we go for the words of life if those who know them and whose lives are about them lead us no where but to death? Where we hang ourselves by our own sin. Sin which can be forgiven. Which, through the blood of the King of the Jews, are forgiven. Where our sin means something to those hands that were pierced.

Judas' place in salvation history was set at the beginning. For God is a using God. Not in a negative way where He uses us like a needed child, but in such a way that He sees evil we might do and says "I can use that." The betrayal of Jesus by Judas was meant for good. The envy of the Pharisees was used for good to make sure that the sacrifice would be made. The lack of evil done by Christ was necessary for a spotless Lamb to bring about the salvation of all creation.

It also paints a picture of our own sins as so reprehensible that we chose to condemn an innocent Man who had done nothing to deserve it so we might keep them in hand. Hands that we wash thinking we are innocent. Hands that still permit condemnation. That do not rescue the innocent or fight for the broken. But even those hands need the blood we wish to deny. A blood that we wished to spill not knowing that it was that act for which we are made clean and forgiven.

So His blood be upon us and our children. May His blood cover all our sin. It was His blood that was in sight when the sweating began in the garden. It was His blood that was spilled at first in the courtyard when He was scourged. It is His blood which takes our scarlet stains and makes them white as snow. The blood is enough to cover even the most wicked of men. Even one who may betray and condemn the Savior Himself.

TW

Forgiveness is the end...

2011-12-26T09:35:00.002-06:00

Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. But Peter followed him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end. Now the chief priests and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.'" And the high priest stood up and said, "Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?" But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his robes, and said, "He has uttered blasphemy. Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?" They answered, "He deserves death." Then they spat in his face, and struck him; and some slapped him, saying, "Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?" Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a maid came up to him, and said, "You also were with Jesus the Galilean." But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you mean." And when he went out to the porch, another maid saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." And again he denied it with an oath, "I do not know the man." After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you." Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately the cock crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, "Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly. - Matthew 26:57-75

Quite often the best thing to do is to keep your mouth shut. Questions get asked that the answer, regardless of how you respond, will condemn you. Peter should have learned that prior to his statement that he would defend Christ to the death. He already had watched as his Friend was taken into custody. Many believe he was the one to draw his sword in the garden, but now he is left with just watching from a distance to "see the end."

He was there at the beginning. He was one of the first called to be a disciple. He stood on the Mount of Transfiguration where he wished to dwell with Whom he had seen. He watched the loaves and fishes multiply. He confessed to Jesus that He is the Christ. Now he watches as the Sanhedrin tries to get what they want. They call for witnesses, not knowing that one was there who could testify about this Carpenter from Nazareth.

False witnesses could not be found. Possibly they contradicted each other or the testimony was not enough to satisfy. Finally Caiaphas looks this Jesus in the eye and asks the question that Peter had already answered, "Are you the Christ?" His response, "You say so", adds fire to their anger but leaves them with the truth. He made the case, the case that Peter may have forgotten, and now they are to fulfill Christ's position as the culmination of the promise found in Abraham.

Peter fails again though. It says he wished to see the end. He only saw Him condemned to die. He thought that was the end. In haste he leaves only to be discovered as one of the Twelve. As one who should be honored to be numbered among the friends of the Savior. But he adheres to Christ prophetic announcement that even he, Peter, the rock, the one who made known the confession of the faith which saves us from our sins, denies the only Lord who lives to save us all.

Upon his departure he had seen only an addendum to the beginning. It was not until the day when all was finished in Christ's death for you and I that the end came. When the tomb was found to be empty by the women, and by Peter and John. It was there that the end came. He must not have realized until then that he had seen all that must be seen. The life of the Son of God who came to deliver us. The death which redeems all creation. The resurrection which draws us to Him. Peter sought out for the end in that judgement chamber that evening. What boldness he may have had if he had known that the end meant forgiveness for all.

TW

A Merry Christmas for you...

2011-12-24T13:41:00.003-06:00

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us) - Matthew 1:18-23

The time of year has come for giving. Giving things to our loved ones to show our love. Giving things to those we do not know to tell of a love by which we have been loved. Enjoying the songs and the merriment of the season while living our normal lives from day to day.

Nothing can change the fact that after Christmas has come and gone, we still remain in our temporal lives. Lives filled with schedules of work and home. Nothing too devout or adventurous. But even so, many shall succumb to the holiday blues and feel a real let down as the new year approaches. Knowing that once the garland is removed, the tree put away, and the presents returned, we are still left with everything we tried to escape from even for a moment. Often we don't carry along with us daily the remembrance for which this feast day is meant to be.

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." That for which we are to be waiting has come. He for whom the prophets and the angels foretold is already here. It is not a day in December that we try and remember but a daily lifting of our hearts to He who was given to us as a gift. Given for us as a sacrifice to remove our sin and gather us to Himself. It is not to be left to each December 25th. The incarnation was an event. His birth in a stable one morning in Bethlehem was a finite happening that has infinite worth. Regardless of where you are on Monday morning, or what you receive on Sunday, know that He has already been given to you and for you. Even on December 26th, His birth is and has happened for you. Even on June 23rd, His birth, life, death, and resurrection hold the same weight that day as they do on any other day. Have a Merry Christmas each of you, for the day happened for you.

TW

A Jesus as me...

2011-12-23T09:00:00.003-06:00

While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I shall kiss is the man; seize him." And he came up to Jesus at once and said, "Hail, Master!" And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, "Friend, why are you here?" Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest, and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?" At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. - Matthew 26:47-56

When we are prepared to betray Jesus, we tend to lean against Him and show Him love. We want ourselves to believe that we know Him best and will be ready for the movement to happen. Judas felt this too. He thought He knew Christ. Many scholars now believe that His betrayal was not in order to kill Christ, but to usher in the insurrection that Judas believed was coming through Christ. We do the same. Many will spend their days debating how Jesus would vote, what He would cut from the national budget, or who He loves more.

Quite often this leads to flattery. "Hail, Master!" Calling Him our Lord when we spend more time with self-portaiture. Thinking that with just a little nudge He might obey the call of the broken creation to do what they want instead of what He must. Trading in His majesty as the Son of God for an ordinary revolutionary who fights political tyrants instead of forgiving spiritual ones. Ones whose sins lead to the cross. Ones who He loved enough to be born to die for.

For this is the fulfillment of the Scriptures. One to bear our iniquities. One to cast our sins to the deepest sea. One who could have brought His army of angels to wipe out humanity and instead loves them enough to be taken as a criminal, to die like a criminal, to release the criminals and prisoners from their sins. Not for the purpose of giving us a better life here or to be elected to political office. Not to win football games or grant us a wish like a genie. But to bear our shame, our pain, our transgressions against Him so as to gather to Himself a people for Him.

TW

Sin into glory...

2011-12-22T08:20:00.003-06:00

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of me this night; for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." Peter declared to him, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away." Jesus said to him, "Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." Peter said to him, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you." And so said all the disciples. Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I go yonder and pray." And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me." And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done." And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand." - Matthew 26:30-46

We all fell away. Each one of us on account of Christ. Not in the manner we think though. We fell so He might rise. We fell so He might come and save His people. It was decided before time began that we were chosen in Jesus to fall so He might be the Christ. Yet, even now, many of us deny His existence. We deny His advent as a child and His death as our Savior, and yet He still died for us. He died to free us from our denial.

Even when we read here of Peter's foretold denial, we think so poorly of him, not believing that we would do the same. Some part of us desires to think that when faced with persecution we shall not deny Him who died for you and me. We mark out Peter as some sort of singular failure, but it says that "so said all the disciples." I had never noticed that before. It was not Peter alone who laid claim to the notion that he would die with Jesus. All the disciples said they would do the same. All, like we, are guilty.

Even so, as guilty as we are, when He rose He went before us. He proactively dies, rises, and goes before the Father for us. Goes into battle for us against sin, death, and the devil. There He will guide us and lead us to His table and show forth His mercy in the throne room of grace.

When we follow Him, all He asks is that we be near and watch. Stay awake and be watchful to see what He does and when He will return. He wishes for us to stay awake and be fed through His Word and His prayers for us. In so doing we can even see His desire for us to not neglect gathering together with other disciples. He wishes for us to seek Him through the gathering around Him as the Word of God and be prepared for His coming for us. Being practiced in the gathering which is to come.

However, even here, in something simple as coming together with the church, we fail. He asked for His dearest disciples to stay watchful with Him as He prayed, even for an hour, as He was sorrowful and instead they fell asleep. They chose to slumber over seeking the greater good. There in the presence of the Christ, they slept while He was burdened.

This is just like us. We fall asleep while He is burdened with our sins. We deny our need for His salvific work on our behalf. We allow for Him to suffer on our behalf and take it lightly. Christ knows this and still dies. He still does the will of His Father in saving His people. Even while we sleep, we deny, we fall away, He saves us. It is on account of these things that He must. It is all He can do because it is who He is and what He does (Yeshua - "God saves").

It was there that He was waiting just as we are waiting. He was waiting for the culmination of His coming in being betrayed into the hands of "sinners." Not just those who came with torches and weapons, but we who come with our chains and stains. He was to be led in the hands of sinners, for sinners, because He loves sinners. Apart from this His ministry would be nothing. It was the evil of our sin that brings glory to Him.

TW

A crime for crimes...

2011-12-21T08:05:00.002-06:00

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the passover?" He said, "Go into the city to a certain one, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at your house with my disciples.'" And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the passover. When it was evening, he sat at table with the twelve disciples; and as they were eating, he said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me." And they were very sorrowful, and began to say to him one after another, "Is it I, Lord?" He answered, "He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born." Judas, who betrayed him, said, "Is it I, Master?" He said to him, "You have said so." Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." - Matthew 26:17-29

"My time has come." The time for the fulfillment of salvation history was now at hand. The Passover was truly to be celebrated for the last time. The Lord was to gather His disciples together to feast for the last time before the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The next day He was to gather all creation to Himself through the cross. Bringing His ministry to it's final conclusion.

Unfortunately this celebration, this time, includes evil. A betrayer is needed to hand over the Son of Man. One who was silent when the Lord announced his coming action, only to speak up once Jesus makes plain the price to be paid for his crime. The others were sorrowful and begging to know if they had sinned. Judas waited until he knew his crime fully to ask "Is it I?"

The same goes for the arrest, the scourging, the thorns, the nails, the death, and the burial. With these though come resurrection, redemption, forgiveness, and new life. We could not have one without the other. This seems to be silent today when the question is asked by Discovery Channel at Easter, "Who REALLY killed Jesus?" As though the question needs answering. The reality is that our sins killed Him, and without Him dying for them, there would be no forgiveness for them. We need the one to enjoy the other.

We see it more clearly at His table. The place where He breaks His body for us. Where He says, "Come, take, eat! Taste and see that the Lord is good." Without the bread being broken we cannot feast. Without His body being broken for us, we have no place at His feast. It is in the blood shed, the blood of the new covenant, the cup given to us to drink, that our sins are washed away. Without the evil of His death, the good of His forgiveness in Body and Blood would not be realized and would have no meaning. But in knowing that Christ's body was broken for you and His blood was shed for you, then in each day we take of it, we remember and commemorate the price paid and the crime committed to forgive us our transgressions.

TW

Passover is coming...

2011-12-20T13:55:00.003-06:00

When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of man will be delivered up to be crucified." Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and took counsel together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be a tumult among the people." Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head, as he sat at table. But when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for a large sum, and given to the poor." But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her." Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What will you give me if I deliver him to you?" And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. - Matthew 26:1-16

What a marvelous phrase, "...the passover is coming...". Standing before the disciples was the Passover Lamb. The One who according to the Exodus was to shed His blood to save the first born sons from death. One whose blood was placed on the doorposts to mark those who trusted in Yahweh and belonged to the people of God. In like manner the Son of Man has come to do the same. To cover the children of God, to passover their sins, to redeem them from slavery, and bring them into the Promised Land. In Christ's death, burial and resurrection, our sins are forgiven. They are no more.

The leaders, on the other hand, sought His death for a different purpose. Silence is what they wanted. They enjoyed, like all of us, their sin and hypocrisy. They wanted their world to remain and to not see that they were suffering in bondage. Like their ancestors in Egypt, they wanted to return or stay in Egypt and enjoy the food in the midst of bondage. They could not believe that what they were pursuing was terminal. They worry of course about the opinions of the people. But what the people were wanting was what Christ offered through His death: mercy and grace.

Unfortunately, like today, His followers, those closest to Him, misunderstood Him. They thought His ministry was still political. He was there for the poor and mistreated. So when a woman comes and christens His body with fine oil, the disciples are angry that He does not wish for the woman to care for the poor first.

He is not a political Messiah though. He is a Shepherd of all His people. Both the harlots and Nicodemus. Zaccheus and Simon the leper. He came for all people and the riches and welfare He brings is for all. Not the zealot alone or the sinner by themselves, but the whole of humanity.

In the same way, when Christ does not fulfill our expectations, we betray Him. We sell Him for whatever we can get. We want the real Jesus to go away and replace Him with a more likable, kid-friendly version. The baby Jesus in golden diapers instead of the bruised and broken One dying on a cross. The smiling healing Jesus who cuddles with children, not the Prophet who cries "Repent and believe the Gospel." The One who brings blessings, not the One cursed on a tree for our transgressions. Because sin should not be fun or pretty. It is messy and ugly. It bruises and cuts, crowns with thorns and scourges with whips.

It is His death and those cuts that brings the blood which frees us and washes us clean. The mess and wretched nature of our lives is remade new in the death of the Son of Man for all humanity. It was for you that He came at the Passover to gather His people. Even if it was for thirty pieces of silver, even the sins of those who arrested Him were to be bought on that cross. If only they had known.

TW

What is wrong with us...

2011-12-19T21:37:00.001-06:00

Something off the wall...

2011-12-19T18:21:00.005-06:00

Watch PBS Arts from the Blue Ridge Mountains: Give Me the Banjo on PBS. See more from The Arts.

Found this and felt I needed to post it. Those who know me know I love the banjo, I love history (history major after all), and I love music. Throw in Steve Martin and good production and you have got me hooked.

TW

Sifting through the Church...

2011-12-19T12:43:00.002-06:00

"When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." - Matthew 25:31-46

There is a portion of the sinful nature of mankind that wants to rummage through the refuse of the church to kick out everyone who is different. Many go searching for the "true church" and spend much of their time worrying about the faith and beliefs of others than about the growth of their own walk. It is, however, not our job. Here we find it is Christ's job. He is the One who, at the culmination of the age, will sift through His Church. We can only continue in our faith to seek the cross and to desire to love one another.

In like manner, our faith and love come from above. Those "blessed of My Father". Those given grace and mercy through the sacrifice of the Son for His people. Those who receive faith as a gift from God. These are the righteous ones. Those given the righteousness from the hands of the Creator. Not for our good but for the goodness of He who has loved us with a steadfast love. So much so that He has prepared a place before the foundation of the world for us to be with Him.

In many ways believers get confused by this passage. They see that their salvation depends on a doing of something. A feeding, clothing and visiting of those lesser brethren. But even more we pass by the phrase, "When did we see you...". The sheep, the ones in His right hand, did not know when they were doing any of these good things. They were just being sheep. It is inherent in the Christian that, as a disciple, we do as the Teacher does. Our fruit flows naturally from the roots we have in Christ. It may be seen through the visiting of the sick, a meal for an elderly couple, babysitting for a single mother, or giving to the less fortunate just because we can. No salvific intention behind it.

Likewise, those on the left, the goats, do not know when they were not doing these things they should have been doing. They are ones who are not conscious of the price paid for them or the faith that leads to life. This faith is what causes love. Forgiveness breeds forgiveness. Mercy breeds compassion. Even in loving one another, at the worst of times, we show forth our faith that saves. A faith not grounded in ourselves being special, or doing special things that make us special, but the Name who redeems us and brings us to His Kingdom. Who draws us out from amongst the visible Church at the end of the age.

TW

Gifts that are given...

2011-12-17T08:41:00.003-06:00

"For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.'" - Matthew 25:14-30

When Christ left after completing His work here on earth, He left His people with His gifts. They are not our property. They are not things we lay claim to, but are given us by the Savior and for the Savior. Faith and love. One which redeems, the other which preserves. One which lays our trust in the King and what He has done for us, and the other being an outgrowth of that which has been done for us through Him. Some are given more than others. Some have deeper relationships and a stronger walk or discipleship experience, but each is given these gifts for the purpose of life in His Kingdom.

Most of us will take and use what He has given according to the strength He provides. We will take this faith in Him and love our neighbor to the best of our ability. We shall go about the business of His Kingdom while He is away in order that when He returns He shall find us faithful. That is, full of faith. Being one who has taken the faith, the belief, the trust He has given to us in Him to love those around us. To show mercy and forgiveness where they are needed, and to have compassion on those who need it.

Others however choose to be like the servant whose talent has been wasted. He was given a gift, not deserved of anything he has done, but given to him according to what the King knew could be used by the servant. It may have been small, less than the others, but it still existed. Instead of going about the business of the Kingdom, it was hidden in the ground. Rather than to trust in the Giver and know that He has been merciful by giving this gift, the servant squanders it. He hides it from the world.

He chooses to fear the King, thinking that He is a certain type of taskmaster, harsh and unrelenting. Yet when judging by the gift given, He is loving and gracious. He went away for awhile and left this servant even a mustard seed faith. A faith that could do anything. Could even just show love and mercy to those in his family, but he chooses to reject it. He becomes lazy, and his laziness leads to a worse evil than could ever be imagined. Cast into the outer darkness, outside the love of God and His presence. Where he will forever gnash his teeth in anger at himself for lacking the faith to trust even a little in the gift given to him.

We likewise must beware. We have been given a gift. The gift of faith in the Son of God. We must not squander it. We do not need to preach on street corners or move mountains, but we must nourish it and grow it through God's Word and the company of the bankers (fellow believers?) where it may earn interest (service?). A faith that sits idle and never is thought of apart from a social identity is one hidden in the ground. A faith that at least is important enough because of the greatness of the gift given by God through Christ and the cross will automatically see fruit just based on the desire to honor the One who has honored us by this gift.

TW

Faith and a flashlight...

2011-12-16T09:35:00.003-06:00

"Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise replied, 'Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' But he replied, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour." - Matthew 25:1-13

When Christ comes He shall find His people waiting. There will be others along the way waiting as well. For Christ tells us that the Kingdom will contain two types of people: foolish and wise. Faithful and faithless. This is an important distinction. One we rarely seek when Christ tells a parable. We must seek not only the Christ character, but understand where faith is placed in the story. The Kingdom of God is not one taken by force but it is based solely on trust in the King.

One set of maidens have brought their lamps. They have brought their oil for the lamps. In other words they brought their flashlights with fresh batteries. They have been joyously waiting for the Bridegroom to come for the feast. For the party. They know they need the light in order to make sure they are not deceived. They also know that the Bridegroom will see them coming, knowing who are His by how they have been waiting in faith.

The other set of maidens have their lamps/flashlights but the batteries are leftover from the camping trip back in 1985. The acid has leaked out and they may have a little juice for about thirty seconds. Upon hearing the announcement of the coming King, they turn to those who are among them and beg for them to share their batteries, not realizing that neither will have anything if they do that. Not knowing that they cannot rely on the faith of others to get them through. They can't expect they will be okay when the time comes because of someone else.

It is the same with us. Our entry into the marriage feast of the Lamb is not based on our heritage. Just because you were baptized and grew up in the church won't help you. Just because your father was a pastor won't help. Just because you surround yourself with Christians and go about the routine won't help you either. When the time comes, faith is there or not. You cannot buy it or share it. It is not something you can wait on. It exists or it does not. It is given or not.

Faith in the Bridegroom, in who He is, in knowing that He would be a merciful One and forgive them for their lack of proper attire or equipment is all there is for us. Instead of worrying about how we look or the reception we give Him, we should have enough faith that He would find us even in the darkness. That He, being the Light of the World, would take us along by the reflection of His countenance. By the beacon that is the cross that shines forth the Way. So that there will be no need to knock on the door and beg. He will gather us to Himself as long as our trust is in Him alone.

TW

Unexpecting and unbelieving...

2011-12-15T09:00:00.002-06:00

"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth." - Matthew 24:45-51

This passage speaks to two different people in two different ways. You have the people of God on a whole. The servants of the Master who are tending to the duties of His household while He is away. You also have the leaders placed over their fellow servants and given the charge to run the orders of the day.

Both have expectations on them. They must feed the flock. Care for the fellow servants and nourish them with all that is provided for us through Christ. Daily meditations on the cross and the love shown through it. Reminding one another of the nature of our inheritance and the blood by which we have been sealed. This is all done when it is expected. Given at the "proper time" by the faithful and wise disciples.

However, those who lack faith in the Master, who wander from the calling and give into the notion that the Lord has forgotten us, will not fair so well. They are ones who believe He is delayed or is not truly going to come for His people. This leads to a lack of reverence for the Master and is compounded by how they/we treat those who follow Him. We usually then make life in this world difficult for them. Beating them down with the Law and shackling them without grace or mercy, but then following after sin and sinners. Becoming true hypocrites by saying one thing and then doing another.

You see it everyday. A particular church preaches the Law in a manner that it might save its followers. They command certain degrees of stringent legalism in areas of marriage and procreation, but then find their pastors and priests molesting children. Or a minister who spoke against gay marriage and the lifestyle therein, but then is found to be living that lifestyle in the shadows. When the Law is our Gospel it then becomes an even greater yoke of slavery then we had before.

It is then that we lose perspective and not expect the return of the King. We may see the dawn of the new creation only to discover our surroundings have changed and we are weeping and gnashing our teeth in anger. Not at Him who gives life, but because we were too self-centered to believe it. We choose to be unexpecting and unbelieving. We choose not to trust that He will do what He says He will do. He took the cross and the shame for us and cast away our transgressions, and said He would return to gather us for Himself. This seems too good to be true and so when we are surprised that it is, then there is nothing left to wonder why we end up outside the doors of His Kingdom.

TW

Are we wrong...

2011-12-14T11:09:00.002-06:00

"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man. Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left. Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect." - Matthew 24:32-44

Since we are reading this, we know that another doomsday has come and gone. Otherwise you and I are Buck Williams and Rayford Steele. I get dibs on Kirk Cameron if anyone asks. It seems this will not be necessary though.

"...the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." Unlike other Christian cliches, this argument is long dead for most. Christ makes clear we will never be able to know when He is coming back. Based on the passage above, there are a lot of things that must happen before He returns. Much will prepare for His advent, but even more noticeable is that we will not be ready. He tells us to be ready but outlines that many will not be. We will be eating and drinking. Marrying and giving in marriage. We will be going about our daily lives as though nothing is afoot and yet He returns for His people and to usher in the Kingdom.

He warns it will be just like the days of Noah. The days when many cared not for the Lord. They did not have the Word of God in their hearts. They were not looking for the Christ to come, but were obsessed with their own business. Business. That is an interesting word. It is almost like "busy-ness": the act of keeping busy. Where actions and work take priority over life and love. Where contentment tends to be a distant memory and the doing of "what is right in your own eyes" becomes the precedent.

Even more, Christ makes clear that His coming will be like the flood of Noah. It will come and sweep away the darkness and bring the light of life. Many will be about their work and life and suddenly one will be taken and one will be left. Is this what we mean by being left behind? If it is then we have been wrong for almost 200 years.

The ones left behind are not left in judgement but are gathered into Christ. The ones taken are judged in their lack of faith. Like those who drowned in the days of Noah, so those taken are drowned in the judgement of God. They choose to go about their days in carelessness and pride. They give little credence to the Maker and think little of the necessity for forgiveness. They would rather love themselves rather than Christ. In so doing they are then removed from God's presence because they prefer their sin than the Redeemer.

This could sound heartless or unloving. It may be. But it is in the red letters isn't it? It appears to be the warning of Christ to understand the severity of His sacrifice. In such a punishment for those who refuse to be covered by His blood in His death and resurrection, we then may understand the pains on the road to Calvary. "Why hast Thou forsaken me?" Then the forgiveness He offers through faith in what He did on that day becomes more precious to us. The grace which emanates from His hands and feet, from the empty tomb, becomes more real when we know that it is in these that He delivers us to new life in Him. Even more when He returns.

TW

Waiting and hoping...

2011-12-10T07:54:00.002-06:00

"So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle. And alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. Then if any one says to you, 'Lo, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Lo, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, 'Lo, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out; if they say, 'Lo, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man. Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." - Matthew 24:15-35

For the sake of His Name, Christ makes clear His saving power for those who love Him. For those who trust in Him and His saving act, the coming of the Son of Man in glory will not be frightful but joyful. Those who love and know Him will be eager to see Him return as a loved one who has been on a long journey returns home to see his family.

Waiting and seeking in patience, especially during this time of Advent, is important and necessary. We shall not know the time, so we must know Him so that those who may try and lead us astray from Him will be put to shame. If we know Him and who He is than an impostor would not be able to deceive us. One who comes to us and cries aloud of justice and anger but knows nothing of the Child in the manger, meek and lowly, is not the one. One who comes speaking love and peace but knows nothing of the cross, of the blood and salvation, will be one outside the Church.

We shall not see or know if we are always searching to find Him. If, however, we wait for Him to come for us, just as He did that night in Bethlehem, then none will be able to mislead His people. It was at the first His choice to come to us. It is right and just, according to who He is as the Savior, to come again for us. So none should look but wait and hope.

TW

Explicating Santa...

2011-12-08T20:50:00.007-06:00

Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down." As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" And Jesus answered them, "Take heed that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth-pangs. "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grow cold. But he who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come. - Matthew 24:1-14

I was struggling today to decide on whether I would do multiple entries or if I would have to forget one and just do the other. Then I read the passage for today and became convinced of the thoughts I have had recently as being relevant for today's reading. For you see we live in a world that pretends to be things it is not. It pretends to be about fairness. What is fair, other than a gathering in August for people to stuff themselves with things on a stick. People are gathered to protest all over the world over the idea of fairness. As though the existence of humanity should guarantee that everyone has the same things, regardless of opportunity or circumstance. The reality is that life is hard. It is difficult and broken, shaped by wars and rumors of wars where peace is only relative to the place where one lives.

We live in a world that also calls themselves spiritual. Yet the one time of the year designated by a Name as set apart for a purpose has been conquered by a selfish consumerism where there is no more Christ. There is no more Incarnation. There is no more Gospel.

It has become a cliche to talk about "putting the Christ back in Christmas." Yet the cliche comes to its own end because we get angry about a jolly old man in a red suit and long beard supplanting a Baby wrapped in rags, lying in cow drool and hay, born for the purpose of a death for sinners. But we want it replaced solely for the idol and not for the confusion. Not for the lack of Gospel in it all. Not for the idea that our conception of God is warped by moralistic deism where Santa is more understandable than a Saviour who loves sinners and dies for them with no strings attached but a trust in Him.

"For many will come in My Name..." These many turn us away from Him who lived and died for us and call us to live in a certain way, or we may die. "You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why, Jesus Christ will send you to hell." That is where most of us find ourselves. This Santa-fied, powerless "Gospel". One that does not save but tells us we need to do or die. Not knowing or believing that One lived for us. He died for us. He now says to just "Come unto Me."

He doesn't have a list and He doesn't check it twice. Because we all have been naughty and not nice. Yet, while we are still sinners He died for us. Christ is not one who sits in judgement or to test us and wait until we fail. He knows we failed already and yet took the long walk to Calvary anyways. That is what is foolish to most of us. We want exclusivity. We want to be in a special club. One in which membership is marked by the obedience of the members who wear silly hats and have the t-shirt.

The Christ of the Gospels is exclusive, but His exclusivity is how things become inclusive. It is in the cross of Christ that our salvation lies (exclusivity) but it is for the sins of the world (inclusive). It is where we must come, and all people must come, to be washed from our scarlet letters we tote in our garments and be made clean and pure through His blood. All this He will do for those who ask and trust.

This blood that was shed for His Name's sake, for a Name that saves. Christ Jesus: "the Chosen One who saves." Where our trust is placed not in the good we do for goodness sake, but this Name that saves for His Name's sake. This exclusivity of the Name is what causes us to be persecuted. It should be what we stand for. It should not allow for us to compromise and cheer for a costumed man who stands for an image of all that is bad in humanity and is dialectically opposed to the Gospel. This cheering in a Christ-less parade that we call "tradition".

We have manufactured a notion that we receive gifts based on the manner in which we live, which is the exact opposite of the Gospel of Christ we are supposed to hold to and suffer for, and then wonder why people don't know God. Don't care about the Church. Don't love Christ or the cross. Are selfish and ambitious and greedy during a time of year when we are supposed to anticipate the coming of the God of the universe, in the form of mankind to save mankind from all the things which anger Him. Where the Creator comes in the form of creation to save the creation from all they do to hate Him. But of course as long as we are more nice than naughty we should get some good things in our stockings, right?

It is not for the faint of heart that the Gospel makes requirements. It is not for the warrior that we expect perseverance. It is in the Baby in a manger and a Man on a cross that both come to unwavering trust in Him alone. We may not even understand it all correctly. We may have a difference of opinion on application or discipleship, but it is not in those things we trust. It is not in what we do that helps us see our name on the right list. It is in the Name of the One, who did for us, that we plead before the Throne of grace and endure because of the One who sits there and bears that Name.

TW

Satisfaction in the unsatisfied...

2011-12-08T07:58:00.003-06:00

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, 'If any one swears by the altar, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and he who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it; and he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity. You blind Pharisee! first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all this will come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" - Matthew 23:13-39

It is the nature of mankind to be religious. From the most zealous fundagelical to the most militant atheist, each of us has an idea of spiritual practice in mind. Some may include deep thought and reflection, others more arduous tasks and performance. Some practice may include actions and others a lack there of, but each of us has our way.

Unfortunately for those of us who are people of faith, we tend to create an image in our mind of the perfect believer. What it should look like to follow our God and live out a life of obedience becomes our goal and aspiration. Like the Pharisees though, we take it too far. Each day has work that must be done to keep ourselves in line with God. Each day has merits to it but leaves us wanting. There is always more to do. We could have lived more holy. We could have loved more wisely. The gates of heaven move farther and farther away from us and we never know why.

Even worse would be the accomplishment of all these things and believing we are right. Believing that we are in the Kingdom when it is no where to be seen. Because we do and follow the guidelines of our faith we are set free in bondage. Because we go to church, we pray, we read our Bibles, we don't use certain words or watch certain movies, we feed and clothe the poor, and we serve as a Sunday school teacher. All of these things we do and yet enslave ourselves to them. We begin to look at ourselves in the mirror and see the reflections of others less holy than us and look down upon them.

A facade or mask has become our refuge. A notion of purity takes the place of a need for it. Our own pet sins become less treacherous than those around us. Those who may openly sin before us and consider themselves in the church are not true-believers and we begin to hide our sins in the deeper recesses of our minds to pretend that they do not exist in order to have nothing to compare to them. We whitewash our outsides and even our speech to put forth an example of holiness that is far beyond anything many could dream of let alone perform.

We then gravitate towards and surround ourselves with like-minded persons so that we may continue to talk of "them" and "those people", in hopes that we may continue this difficult slavery. Not knowing that God knows who we are and where we are. Not knowing that regardless of "those people" and their sins, or we and our "non-sin", He came and died for all of them.

Jim down the street who attends church but lives with his girlfriend? His name was engraved on the cross.

Jane who is an alcoholic and beats her kids? Christ died for her too.

The pastor of the "evangelical" church who binds you with rules and obedience and tells you that you better walk a certain way or you will perish? He came for that man too.

For the lack of forgiveness we carry, the pride and arrogance we wear on our sleeve, the lie we profess through hiding our iniquity, Christ bore the nails and the crown for those as well. All of us He died to save and opened the gates of the Kingdom so freely through His blood.

No more burdens must we carry. No more legalism to follow to guarantee our inheritance. No longer do we make the earthly the key to the eternal. Forever it is made for us through trust in the One who died and was raised. All that holds us back is the notion that somehow we need to be cleaner for the One who cleanses all our sin. He has wished to gather us together as His people. Our unwillingness is still in the notion that He is not enough to satisfy.

TW

It begins now...

2011-12-07T21:15:00.003-06:00

It seemed warmer than usual today. Not as cold as it could have been with the snow and the overcast skies. It could have also been my trip that warmed me up. I-35 was my starting point. Took that down to Hwy 14 and went east to Rochester. There I found my way to Sisters of St. Francis Convent and Retreat Center. It wasn't for what you think. No I was not being fitted for a habit. I was also not going there for solitude. Judging by the temperament and faces of the aged nuns around me, solitude maybe all there is left for some of them. It was not a place that seemed very cheerful. This is probably just a first impression and not reality.

I went there for the purpose of meeting with Reverend Linda Gunderson of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod. This is the first step in a long process, one that will consume the next 5 years of my life, in order to become an ordained minister in the ELCA. This may come to a shock to some of you who remember me as a fundamentalist. This also may be nothing of a surprise to any of you. I don't know.

It seemed fitting that the offices are located in a place set apart for Godly things. The offices are down a hallway which also serves as the history museum for the convent. As I was waiting I enjoyed some time gazing upon the faces of many women who gave their lives to the service of Christ in this convent and others. In the same way I was entering through the office doors to begin the walk of service to Christ and His church. I am there to make the choice and decision that this is what I want to devote the rest of my life to. Not to some job where I punch a clock, but to a vocation where I cannot but do it.

It has been a difficult relationship, this pastoral call and I. I was too prideful and arrogant when I first entered ministry 7 years ago. I knew nothing of the pastorate. I knew nothing of ministry as a vocation that deals in relationships. I am hoping that God will continue to work on me, to open me to what it is I must do to bring Him glory, but to also serve those souls He will entrust to me for the years I am with them.

I ask that you would pray for me. Pray with me. I need it more and more. I won't know if I am even accepted to the candidacy process until May 11th. I have much I must do before then and I must also do even more if I get a positive entrance decision. Please also pray for my wife as we go through this together. We are partners in love and life and I need her as "my rib" as much as my supporter through all of this. May God bring each of you peace this Advent season. We'll be back to Matthew tomorrow.

TW

Taking break for a couple days...

2011-12-06T18:47:00.002-06:00

I am not going to say that I am bored. In fact I am more invigorated to continue working through Matthew as these days go by. Especially since I have almost made it to the last verse. It has been more for me than anyone else. However, today and tomorrow have had and will have a lot going on. A new journey, a new page as it were, will hopefully be turned.

The past 5+ years of time out of my element as a stay-at-home parent have been difficult. I would never say it was the worst, but it was and is not the easiest thing to do. It takes a special person to be able to identify their existence with miniature versions of themselves all the while putting any plans they have for vocation outside of the home on hold for a necessary period of time.

Next year my son will be in kindergarten and I will finally be able to start a new focus in my life. It is not necessarily new as I have attempted it before, and failed. Some who read this may know my past lives. I have had many. Bad experiences and my own pride and selfishness have caused me to turn my back on what the LORD has really been asking. The last few years have been a real eye-opener for me and have helped me to do deeper searching and study to truly understand the calling God has had on me. I have listened to the voices of others and have leaned on the wisdom of those older than I to come to terms with this decision. Previously, and probably still, I had refused to humble myself and take the long walk where He wishes. I had refused to believe that I knew nothing and that it is blue collar work and employment based on relationships and people, not knowledge and speeches. By this time tomorrow I will know more and be able to clue everyone into what is going on. Most of you already know, so shhhhh.

TW

The humble estate...

2011-12-05T08:04:00.002-06:00

Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. - Matthew 23:1-12

The road seems long and arduous for those who seek to lift themselves up. The doings and goings can be monitored, each miniscule piece of law detailed, and yet, where are we in the end? Are we any better off? We may have made ourselves to look good in this charade portrayed, but there is always a stone to trip us up. A preacher can be calling for revival but then we find him caught in an extra-marital affair. A giant of Christian history can have brought about great reforms in a city with "law-abiding people" but then find him guilty of the murders of hundreds, or even thousands, of dissenters. "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled."

It gets thrown around like yesterdays tissues that Christ died for our sins and saved us by grace alone through faith alone, but then an addendum is added: "so here is what you need to do." A very popular national religious figure, who calls himself the pastor to pastors, has recently corrected this and finally come out to say it takes more than faith to get to Heaven. It takes faith and obedience, he says. "They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, on people's shoulders."

Others assume the former and see it as irrelevant. Sin is just a symptom of natural humanity and/or a broken childhood. So we need to get passed the idea that God is holy and just go about doing good for people. We have to do these things in order to truly be Christian. This in all of its shame misses the irony. Calling it Christian without Christ, makes it nothing more than secular humanism. "They do all their deeds to be seen by men."

In all of this their still is hope. One who not only sits in Moses' seat but was the seat, fulfilled the purpose and the practice. He took the heavy burdens, carried them on His shoulders, borne in the cross, and was nailed and died to release those burdens for us. This on a hill to be seen by all humanity. To be touched and understood as reality for us even today. He now has the honored seat at the marriage supper of the Lamb, where all are invited to come and taste and see that the Lord is good. Where the sins of law-breaking, law-enforcing, pride and hatred are atoned for. Where the Rabbi and Father wait patiently for the culmination of the salvation of all mankind. Where the humblest of states, that of a servant, was taken up by the Mightiest of all so that we might become, through His death for our sins, children of God.

TW

The full reward...

2011-12-03T08:48:00.002-06:00

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, "What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." He said to them, "How is it then that David, inspired by the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I put thy enemies under thy feet'? If David thus calls him Lord, how is he his son?" And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did any one dare to ask him any more questions. - Matthew 22:41-46

Who is the Christ? This question is the key to all of Christianity. Maybe we should read "CHRISTianity". All of our faith, all our trust is placed in what we perceive as the Christ. If our understanding is flawed then our faith and our life will be flawed.

Jesus spends much of His time enlightening people to Himself as Messiah but He never wanted anyone to say it. In part it could be that He knew, as Jews, that their belief about the Messiah was in error. It was based on Him as the "Son of David". A temporal ruler. One who would inaugurate the kingdom of David again, with all the pomp of the throne room, the palace, the army, and the power.

Even when we, who call ourselves Christians, look to Christ we see Him coming in power to make changes. We see Him coming for life change and to create an obedient people. We think of Him as someone who has showed us the way and if all we do is follow it then we will be golden. This is a lie.

How could One come as the Sovereign God, through Whom all things were created, to be born in a stable in an out-of-the-way town like Bethlehem, wrapped in strips of cloth, laid in a manger while donkeys kept their watch over Him, and be only Someone who would point the way so we might follow in His footsteps? Why risk it? Why come to fallen humanity, where we kill each other over the colors we wear, and just tell us to try harder to follow God?

It wasn't for that purpose. He came to a dead people so that they might have life. He came with the sole purpose to "save His people from their sins." He came to be born in a manner that none would take of note, not in a palace, so that none would feel compelled to follow Him and think it made them special. He lived His calling in poverty, ate with the worst of the society, preached against those who thought they were following the way, and then took a walk up a hill one day to finish it.

He never told people to try harder because no one could try as hard as He was to accomplish for us. Our trying only diminishes that which He poured out His blood for. He came in obedience, to take up that cross, so as to accomplish on Calvary what was not done at Sinai. Once we have been washed, our life is lived for what has been done. It is lived so as to bring honor to His Name, Yeshua: "God saves." It is not to win awards or fame, but to live as ones purchased by treasure unmeasurable so that the Lamb might receive the full reward for His suffering.

TW

Eugene Peterson on Church and Pastors

2011-12-02T19:41:00.002-06:00

Watch Eugene Peterson on PBS. See more from RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY.

I don't necessarily agree with all of his theology, but his pastoral understanding and his vision of recapturing the heart of pastor as shepherd, I hope will catch on. I am only halfway through his newest book, The Pastor: A Memoir, but it is one of the better books on pastoral theology I have read. All of his work on pastoral theology is brilliant.

TW

Never enough...

2011-12-02T08:10:00.003-06:00

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." - Matthew 22:34-40

Sin is always a dichotomy. One unknowable and the other quantifiable. One is only "just" sin, while the other is immorality. One is covered by faith and the other by love. One involves God, the other the neighbor. One will haunt our dreams, the other our realities. One is the worst, the other the hardest.

Love our God with all our heart? My heart so often fails though. I love my children, my wife, my parents, but I always feel I never do it properly or enough. Could this be the same with God? Do I truly have my heart given to God or does it seek after other things? The mere fact that I love others and even myself tells me it is not given to God entirely. Yet, One's heart was broken for this reason. It failed through the strain of carrying my sins of the heart on the cross that afternoon outside Jerusalem. It poured out blood and water to wash me of my iniquity so that I love the Lord through the One who has loved completely.

My mind most definitely does not love God as it should. It is there that I fashion idols, creating an image of God that leaves much of His attributes on the sidelines. I can understand love and forgiveness to an extent, but can I ever understand holiness? A holiness that would bruise His own Son for my idolatry? A Son who loves so unconditionally that even on the days I forget Him, His blood still covers me and removes my sin.

My soul, my whole being has never been devoted to the One who gave it to me. It always is sidetracked with things less wild than Jesus. More so in that I catch it trying to justify itself on Sunday by looking around to see who is not there. This way I can keep a record of my own righteousness over and against Billy and Jane who are not in church. I catch it noticing all the dust and bits of hair in the eyes of my neighbor, while I adjust my gaze around this California Redwood that has taken root in my own life. It was still for these things that He took the scourging and the nails. Each beating of a fist on His face was my soul seeking something other than Him. Yet in each case He says, "It is finished!"

This is what makes loving the hardest. Knowing that when I have sinned against my neighbor that I have been forgiven through the blood of Jesus, but still must seek the forgiveness of the one I have hurt. Loving can often be described as what we do or avoid doing to them. Feeding, clothing, refreshing, healing and visiting. Not lying, stealing, lusting, hating, killing, or coveting. These as such are quantifiable. I can count them and keep track of my progress. But little can be made of it other than the Pharisaical motives of such a feet. It becomes self-righteousness and even insane to do such a thing. One would never live a minute without making sure of each. Never could we be satisfied if we took it that seriously and then we would become blind to the unknowable things that were broken.

I will never be able to love my God apart from how I know of Him in Christ. It is only in His love seen at Calvary that I can ever be loving of God. In the same way, I can never truly love my neighbor properly in order to gain eternity apart from how Christ has loved my neighbor through His death for them. These two commandments do some up the law, but for a Christian they are different. Faith and love. Trust and care. We love God through having the trust in Christ's death and resurrection that He loved us. We love our neighbor as best we can as each day affords it but not in manner to grow in holiness, but in one that will hopefully not bring shame to the Name by which we are saved.

TW

Living amongst the dead...

2011-12-01T08:39:00.003-06:00

The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection; and they asked him a question, saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies, having no children, his brother must marry the widow, and raise up children for his brother.' Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married, and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, to which of the seven will she be wife? For they all had her." But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living." And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. - Matthew 22:23-33

The errors of man in the nature of God spread from a lack of wisdom in the power of God and His Word. Seeing no difference between the material and the eternal, the natural and supernatural, most of us fall into the trap of thinking that all we have here is all we will have there. That is the life of a Sadducee.

Being the liberals of the day, the Sadducees did not believe in miracles, angels, or the resurrection. They held only to the Torah as the inspired Word of God. They claimed to not find anything in the five books of Moses that testified to the power of God in the resurrection after death. They took this presupposition to the next level by trying to ask a question in such an absurd way that they would discredit Christ. It is a similar tactic as those who wish to discredit people of faith by equating the Creator with a flying spaghetti monster. Thinking that the more ridiculous they make the reference the more stupid the believer will look and then be found wanting.

There issue was not in whether Christ would agree with their understanding of the Law, but in how ridiculous He could look by believing in something so strange as the resurrection of the dead bodily. Christ rejects this out of hand and answers them by pointing out the frailty of their argument.

They did not know the Scriptures. They may have a partial understanding, but they did not have the full revelation because they limited the knowledge by choosing to follow only a portion of that inspired by God. They also sought the answers not in the Scriptures but sought the fulfillment of the answers they already had. They were not paying honor to the Word of God, just as they were not in their asking such a question of the Word Incarnate.

They also did not understand the power of God. They did not see in God the power of the possible. There was not a feeling that a Creator God who had made the creation could also fashion a new creation in the resurrection of the dead. Neither were there among them believers in the notion that the Kingdom of God is set in opposition to the kingdom of this world and that how we may manufacture a idea of the eternal, we can never know for certain but only have faith that will occur.

Finally, they appeared to see no life in the God they served. God being a Living God. A God who is about life in His creation and in His people. One who wished to bring life to the dead in such a way that He came into the world of the dead, sinners who are walking corpses, and bring life to them through a death. A God who incarnates His Word in a fallen world to live as a man, to die as a man, and to be raised in His glory for the salvation of man. Not for the purpose of us being with the wife of our youth again, but to be with Him in a reconciled relationship. Reborn through the power of God according to His Word.

TW

Temporal is temporary...

2011-11-30T07:57:00.003-06:00

Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how to entangle him in his talk. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God truthfully, and care for no man; for you do not regard the position of men. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the money for the tax." And they brought him a coin. And Jesus said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said, "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." When they heard it, they marveled; and they left him and went away. - Matthew 22:15-22

The religious leaders have been decimated by the teachings of the Teacher. They thought they knew the Word of God. They thought they knew how His Kingdom was to come, what it would look like and how it would be present in the world. The religious arguments that the teachers brought had failed. They needed a new tactic. So they partnered with politics, even with those they despised, to try and capture Jesus in His own words. Thinking that He was just another messiah figure who was come to overthrow the ruling government, they allow for arguments to try and catch Him in what they thought He might find interesting.

Using the position of a political party, the Herodians, they send their disciples with these men to ask a question. They remind them to flatter Him with words, because that is what they love so He should too, and then move to the simple question of temporal authority. They take what Christ has said to the teachers of the law and think Him to be merciless and damning of mankind. Not loving of men. Yet, this proves their ignorance of the Lord. For He is merciful and loving of mankind. Loving to the point of death on a cross. Merciful enough to the point of forgiving us even while we are still sinners.

In asking their question, "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?", they look to the Law of Moses and hope that Christ can be caught in one of two ways. Either He proves Himself to be a law-breaker according to their interpretation of the Law by saying they have to pay taxes to Gentile rulers. Or He would say it is not lawful and they could turn Him over to the Romans. Jesus does both and neither.

He knows their hearts. He knows our hearts. He sees that they, like we, wish for a certain kind of world. One in which God is King, His rules are the Law, and His might is justice. Knowing this would be our desire and intention, He chooses another way. No king was to be raised up in the palace. Instead a Baby born in a stable, rocked to sleep in a manger, raised as the Son of a carpenter, from the fly-over country known as Galilee, leading people not in revolution but in lessons, and eventual to die a death in disgrace as a criminal. That is His way. A way of foolishness that we would find there to be no profit.

It wasn't to be a temporal fix. It was not to make way for the Kingdom here on earth and to clean up the mess of society. It instead is a Kingdom unlike anything we could imagine. One where even in our suffering He comes preaching comfort. Even in our sins and our dishonoring of His Name He brings forgiveness and healing. Even in the fallen world where death and disease still reign He calls to us to be patient and watchful, knowing that this is but a moment in comparison to eternity in His presence.

TW

Just two syllables...

2011-11-29T12:59:00.002-06:00

And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.' But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.' And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. "But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen." - Matthew 22:1-14

Fascinating that today's passage in Matthew was discussed over coffee just a few hours ago. This is still a continuation of the previous discussion of the Kingdom and how Christ had come to His own and they did not receive Him and so He went to the nations. It resumes the judgement against Israel for their lack of belief and their religiosity.

The king, that is God the Father, is holding a marriage feast for His Son (Christ). He sends out His prophets, His messengers, even His pastors, to invite and speak to those who have been invited and tell them of the feast prepared and their places at it. Here Christ is speaking against Israel who trusted in their chosen status as the people of God. Those, who by proxy, felt that they were in, based on their name and their obedience, not realizing that the party is not for them but is for the Bridegroom. It was not to be a place where they would have honored seats and fanfares, but a place where the Chosen One is honored for who He is and what He has done.

They take it lightly. The same as many of us. We take it lightly. We find the Gospel and the gathering of God's people, even for one hour, one day per week as too troublesome and not as important as soccer games, brunch, and football pregame shows. They, as we, go off about their business as though nothing has changed. They find the party of eternity, the marriage supper of the Lamb, as such an insignificant affair that they would rather return home and milk cows. So God gives them, and us, what they/we want.

He turns His servants' attention to the byways and highways. "Go and gather the others. Those who seem outside of My promise and tell them it is for them as well. Give them the keys, wash them and dress them according to the Bridegrooms specifications. Make them feel at home and to know the feast is for them too." So His servants obey and gather those, "both good and bad", the "righteous and the wicked", and offer them the same gift of grace and salvation. All He does is bid us come to Him.

The harder part is that there is a password. It is nothing too difficult. It is only two syllables. It is what clothes us for the feast. It is that wedding garment that the one who came unclothed refused to wear. Jesus. God saves. For it is by His stripes we are healed. It is He who bore our transgressions to make a place for us at the feast. All we need is to plead that Name. Put it on as a robe, a shroud stained with His very blood, that washes us and make us as one clean before the King. It is there for all who seek and desire and hear His voice saying "Come."

TW

It is the Lord's doing...

2011-11-28T07:54:00.003-06:00

"Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. Afterward he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.' And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons." Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it." When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. But when they tried to arrest him, they feared the multitudes, because they held him to be a prophet. - Matthew 21:33-46

By extension here, Christ is continuing His judgement of the religious by telling another parable to explain the difference between the kingdom of man and the Kingdom of God. It was going to anger them. He knew it. They were full of pride in what they saw as their own righteousness in the things they did and how dedicated they were to God. We have similar men and women today who hold to the Kingdom based on all the portions of Scripture they "perform" and how wonderful they are in the eyes of men.

God has made this world, protected it, built up the wonders of His creation and given us the benefits of it. He has then placed us in charge as tenants of His lands by giving us life here. Knowing our hearts and what it is that we wish for ourselves, He sent prophets and teachers to show us where we have strayed and the level of our rebellion and disobedience. Those who held to self-righteousness beat and killed the messengers. They believed and still believe that if the messenger is killed, then the message is not true.

Finally the Father sent His Son to bring about the culmination of God's plan to redeem His people and gather them to Himself. Seeing Him as just another bump in the road, we killed Him and thought that would be the end of it. Not knowing that we condemned our self-righteousness by killing the Sin-bearer. Not knowing that He had taken our sins upon Himself on that cross and had put them away so that they no longer are there. In such a manner that all we must do is trust in Him and what He has done, believing that He had to do it, and He will forgive. He must. This being the fruit of the Kingdom. The only thing that we can do is trust that it has been done, "for it is the Lord's doing". Everything else is useless.

We leave ourselves lashed to our sins when we do not believe. We continue to bear them when we feel the need to try and wash them away ourselves, or think we need to make ourselves acceptable. We deny His power and refuse His gift of grace. It is no longer given to a specific people but was done for all. What is necessary is only to have faith that He did what He said He did.

TW

Doubt is not faith...

2011-11-27T12:29:00.004-06:00

And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" Jesus answered them, "I also will ask you a question; and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men?" And they argued with one another, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men,' we are afraid of the multitude; for all hold that John was a prophet." So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. "What do you think? A man had two sons; and he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' And he answered, 'I will not'; but afterward he repented and went. And he went to the second and said the same; and he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him; and even when you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe him. - Matthew 21:23-32

Authority, that is the question. Certainty, that is the nature of the controversy. The leaders of the Sanhedrin at that time were questioning a Man judged by many to be a prophet, even more than that, and yet they could not decide in their own thinking or from the Scriptures whether what He said and did was true and in accordance with the Truth.

Christ, being more than a prophet but the very God incarnate for you and for me, asks a simple question. It is His nature to question those who come into contact with Him. Not to leave them in their questions, as many in today's church are accustomed, but to use those questions to find the answers so that there might be certainty among them.

"Was John of Heaven or of man?" A simple question but an extension of that asked of the disciples. "Who do you say that I am?" In asking Christ seeks an answer to see where we stand in faith before Him. If those who are testifying about Him are from Heaven, as John did (the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world), then they must be believed. If the authority they bring is that of the Word of God Himself and proclaim a Gospel that frees and forgives then they speak truthfully. If they bring nothing of that authority but speak solely for the wealth and prosperity of man in their sins and fear the mob over the Maker, chances are they have no authority except that which they give to themselves.

The leaders subsequently condemn themselves out of chosen ignorance as a ploy to remove any skepticism. "I don't know." Words of condemnation, of doubt, not of faith and trust in the One standing before them. They condemn themselves as false teachers, ones who know not the Law or the Prophets to whom they subscribe. Ones who know should have known and trusted the Scriptures but refuse. Ones who knew enough to give Herod an answer when asked where the Christ would be born, but ignore that Christ for who He is and why He shall come.

It is the same today. Our leaders fear the power of God in His Word to bring freedom and strife at the same time, so they speak out of that fear to tell us only what we wish to hear, not what we need. Our leaders turn the Gospel, the Good News of Christ coming to us so that we no longer have to climb up to Him, into rules and regulations to force obedience and man-made righteousness upon those who seek rest in the arms of the Savior. Our leaders turn faith into doubt, trust becomes unreliable, certainty is too precarious for any person to have in a belief that saves.

Even though it is only faith (a trust) in a person who has done an action of redemption on our behalf which brings salvation, no one seems to hear it or want it. We want simple doings, not simply dones. We lack a trust in One who came as a baby born in filth, to die in filth, where He took on our filth, so that we might be washed and made a new creation. One who takes in those who need and crave the gentle and healing hands stained by nails, the sinners who lack everything but sin, and still has room for those who think Him unnecessary. Some saw no need until they saw themselves, others refuse to see themselves and pretend to need Him but never come. It is hard to spread the "I don't knows" around when it is the "I know Whom I have believed" (I Tim 1:12) that brings us to the Kingdom.

TW

The Fruit seeking faith...

2011-11-26T08:41:00.003-06:00

In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside he went to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only. And he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at once?" And Jesus answered them, "Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and never doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will be done. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." - Matthew 21:18-22

Christ was a prophet. He came to prophecy for the coming of the Kingdom. He did this in remarkable ways whether through parables, miracles, lessons, or the Cross. He was one to make sure the point was either plain to all or able to be discovered by those who seek Him. Most notably He came to His people, those of Israel, to find welcome from them and faith in the salvation that would come. He found neither.

His people did not recognize Him. In fact, they despised Him. So much so that they, with the help of Gentiles, put Him to death thinking He might go away but He did not. He came as one seeking faith, seeking a people who would remove the trust in themselves and place it on Him, who is the only Savior.

He was hungry. He desired His people. He came to them and found nothing. They had a resemblance of faith. One outward to which many would believe that they were ones who believed. But there was no fruit. It was not the time yet for fruit. That was to come from another tree. One which would have it's Fruit nailed to it. A Fruit that would produce it's own faith for His people.

The fruit was to be coming in a new way. In a new people. Those who would not trust in their inheritance as chosen people, or in their genealogy, or in the temple and manner of their worship. He was to draw a people to Himself who trust solely in the love He gives through His Body and Blood. A peace that comes through reconciliation with God through Christ alone. For outward signs come only with a trust in the blood of Christ, and a pleading in the healing it brings. The works of hands not our own. Not our works of piety and piousity.

If we do trust only in those things which we do, we do not have faith in Him who alone can save. We then doubt, by our actions, that His Blood covers us. We turn away from Him and call down upon ourselves condemnation. It is this denial that earns sinners Hell. For Heaven and Hell are populated by forgiven sinners. The one by those who trust in the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The other by those who give Him the finger and would rather do things their way. If that be the case, then we can go to Hell.

TW

Charging people for weakness...

2011-11-25T07:51:00.002-06:00

And Jesus entered the temple of God and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you make it a den of robbers." And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant; and they said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast brought perfect praise'?" And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there. - Matthew 21:12-17

Upon entering Jerusalem, Christ makes His way straight to the temple. The place where the glory of God has dwelled and prayers have been raised is met by the Lord incarnate in Jesus. He comes with the intention of placing His Gospel into a real world context for both Jews and Gentiles to see.

Coming into the outer courts He comes upon the money-changers, the bankers as they were. They were their to exchange currency from various countries to the necessary temple tax currency of silver. In the process they exacted a commission from the pilgrims, those seeking God and forgiveness. They were the bouncers, the ones accepting the cover-charge to enter the worship of God at the temple before the Passover. Imagine coming to church at Easter and the ushers expecting $5 from you before you may enter the service. Some then question the anger of Christ?

The same goes for the sellers of doves and other animals. They were taking advantage of those coming to give sacrifice after being healed of leprosy or the time of purification after giving birth. They could buy animals and bring their own, but what if they could not afford to do such a thing? Could they not expect the priests of God to make provision for them so they might fulfill the vows? Christ clears them all out. Beats them from His sight and then commences with the healing of those who were unable to worship because of their infirmities.

It is the same for today. We in the church expect people to come washed of their sins before they may enter our community. How dare a man be a smoker and call himself Christian. We should have nothing to do with him. How dare a woman have a child out of wedlock and expect to be welcomed into our arms. Turn and wash yourself clean young lady and put that child back in your womb, get married and provide us with the pound of flesh before you come to Jesus.

That is not the way of Christ. Christ calls the sinners. He calls the broken, the wounded, the sick in their sins to wash them Himself. It's what He does and what He wants to do but we deprive Him of this gift by turning away those who need Him the most. We then call ourselves clean and servants of the Most High. We are to love our neighbor and to care for all. If we truly love them then should we not make room for them at the Table of the Lord regardless of their condition?

We come with the same frailty. As humans we are sinners by trade. It is our unfortunate occupation. We were born that way, live with it, and will die because of it. We persecute those who we see as outsiders and dirty not knowing that if Christ were to judge us outside of His sacrifice, we would be condemned for hatred of others, our little white lies and our covetous greed as much as the alcoholic, the fornicator and the homosexual. Each has been saved by a price paid for them. It is our job to show forth the faith and trust we have in His forgiveness and share it with others.

TW

Giving us what we want...

2011-11-24T07:58:00.003-06:00

And when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If any one says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and he will send them immediately." This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, "Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of an ass." The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the ass and the colt, and put their garments on them, and he sat thereon. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" And when he entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" And the crowds said, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee." - Matthew 21:1-11

Again, He is coming to Jerusalem. The City of David being the chosen place where the Lord said His glory would dwell in the temple. Yet, now the Lord and His glory are coming into it's gates, mounted on a the back of a donkey. This could be not much less than as Humble as possible for a king. Like a teenager riding a child's tricycle perhaps. It was covered in the coats of His friends and He was walking on the coats of those who are crying out for freedom.

He is entering as their king. But not the king they were looking for. He is a different kind of King who comes as One enthroned in glory, upon the praises of His people and now His people are calling to Him in the only way they can, "Save us, we pray." That is what "hosanna" means. So they are calling for Him to save them in the highest way. So He does exactly that but not in the manner they may wish (the overthrow of the occupiers), but He grants their request.

He comes as a King to His people as they call Him. Coming as a King in the Name of the Lord to do what His name must do, that is to save. Causing such a stir as He continues through the streets where more and more join the crowd and shout for Him to be who He is, and so He does. He may have even seen Golgotha out of the corner of His eye, then hearing His Father tell Him, "Only a few days more My Son, then You shall have Your glory." It must have been a great sight for Him to see, but in great heartache too. He knew each heart and knows ours too, and saw that as they are crying for salvation, a few days later they shall cry for blood, "Crucify Him!" So He gives us what we want. Salvation in His death.

TW

Seeing and believing...

2011-11-23T07:56:00.002-06:00

"...the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the roadside, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent; but they cried out the more, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" And Jesus stopped and called them, saying, "What do you want me to do for you?" They said to him, "Lord, let our eyes be opened." And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they received their sight and followed him. - Matthew 20:28-34

Service unto death, that is Christ's calling. Even as they are on the road to Jerusalem to see Him enter her gates in triumph only to leave them as a condemned criminal, He finds time to serve His people. Being compassion embodied in humanity He cannot turn away from those who cry out to Him.

There was a great crowd marching with Him, many thinking He was to go and take back Palestine for the Jewish people. He is interrupted by two blind men sitting on the side of the road hearing the cheers and shouts of all sorts of followers. Suffering from blindness, not able to see the glory before them, let alone the faces of their loved ones, they cry out with the only phrase they can muster: "Have mercy!" They beg of Him out of who He is, "Be compassionate towards us Son of David. Be merciful on us and heal us of our malady."

He heard their cries. He heard them above the crowd. He does not automatically do what it is that His Jesus-likeness can do, He offers them the opportunity to tell Him what they want. "Open our eyes so we may see." Who knows what Christ may have done if they said they wanted Bermuda. However, He gives them what they ask for since they heard Him coming. He touches their eyes in pity, they open, and the men follow Him.

If only each of us had the same desires. Coming to Christ not seeking what we want in order to be greater than others, but to ask of Him the thing we need most: to see. To see Him as He is, the Savior who suffered for our sins. To see Him as the baby in the manger born to die for His love of humanity. To see the grace on a nail-pierced hand and the love coming from the eyes of one who heals. Only then can we follow Him. Only then can we be like Him. We must see Him clearly.

TW

Ambitionless Kingdom...

2011-11-22T13:17:00.003-06:00

"So the last will be first, and the first last." And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day." Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." He said to them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Matthew 20:16-28

It is fitting to include the last phrase of the previous passage as we enter with Christ into Jerusalem to see the culmination of that which He was born to do in this world. It is also important as "the last shall be first, and the first shall be last" to remember that in the face of what Christ is bringing here.

A proclamation that He shall be delivered, or betrayed. Betrayal involves a friendship broken. These are His friends that He is speaking with and they don't even hear it. He is to be condemned to death for speaking words and healing people. His words were seen as an insurrection. An overthrow of the religions of men where we hold to all the rules and regulations to justify ourselves and hold power over those we see as inferior or weak. Not only will He be killed but He will suffer innumerable amounts of pain and torture. Crucified bleeding, bruised and naked on a tree in whole view of the passersby. There He can be ridiculed and spat upon. And yet there is Good News, He will be raised on the third day as He defeats sin, death and the devil.

Do His disciples listen? No. After showing through real life situations and parables that the last shall be first, the weak shall be strong, and the childlike shall inherit the Kingdom, the disciples still believe that His Kingdom is about to come in the flesh. It will come in flesh, His Body broken for sinners, but the disciples think that their will be an overthrow of authorities, thrones to sit in and power to be wielded. So much so that a mother pleads for her sons that they might be Vice President and Speaker of the House. That they might retain the most authority besides Himself.

Christ does not get angry but asks a simple question, "Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They say "Yes", Not knowing that what they seek, the thrones they desire, are ordained by the Father, and are enthroned through the breaking of the Bread of Life. The cup is one filled to overflowing by the Blood which covers all sin.

Some were angry at the two for the demands they asked of the Master. Yet, Christ still brings them back to the roots found in the tree that He shall be seeing soon. He is their to be a servant of His Father. To die a death that all should despise in order to bring those who are His into the arms of God. To give His life as a ransom paid to free us from the kidnappers: ourselves and our sin.

TW

Work is never enough...

2011-11-21T07:58:00.003-06:00

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place; and to them he said, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.' And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the householder, saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' So the last will be first, and the first last." - Matthew 20:1-16

Here the Gospel is most evident. "For the Kingdom of Heaven is like...." Christ is continuing His explicatory statement by pointing to a parable to better explain what He said of the rich man and inheritance in the Kingdom. It wasn't enough for there to be a real world experience of the reality of the Gospel, but Christ saw fit to elaborate even more. Likewise then, we must take this parable not as a statement by itself, but an extension of the former discussion.

Here Christ comes as the landowner to hire laborers for His vineyard. He comes to those at first light and grants them a days wage for their service. He does the same three hours later and promises only that they will receive what is right. The same happens three hours after that, and so on. When the day comes to a close the laborers line up for their wages. The ones who were their for only an hour are paid first and they receive a days wage. This would leave the ones who had worked for twelve hours straight thinking that they will be leaving with a large sum of money for their service and hard work. Yet, when the paychecks are distributed to them they receive the same payment. The payment they had agreed upon at the beginning of their labors: a days wage.

What is the response? "How dare you. For we have labored for you honestly throughout the course of the entire day. Twelve hours. We suffered in the heat of the sun, the wind scorching our skin, and we heaved load after load of grapes into your storehouses. Why do these lazy sluggards get the same as us? They probably were up late partying, woke up in the afternoon and finally decided to show up to get some work. It's not fair." Or is it?

"Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?" Grace is not ours by right. It is not ours even by labor. It is the price that He has set. A price so high that it was paid for through blood shed for us. For you and for me. It is not something that we earn a greater portion of based on longevity in the Kingdom or on suffering for the Gospel. Just because one confesses Christ, attends church regularly, teaches sunday school, goes on missions trips, gives money to the poor, and volunteers at a soup kitchen, does not make them first in the Kingdom. No more than the poor Christian widow who must spend her days laboring in this life just to make ends meet. Or the believing single mother who works two jobs to provide for her children and comes to church as often as she is able. It is all based on the merits of Christ won for us at Calvary.

Forgiveness from God is not earned. It is not bartered. His mercy only extends so far as the blood of Christ will allow. "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." Not only for those who work in the Kingdom. Not only for those who were born Christians, live as Christians, and die as Christians. But for those whose trust is a long time coming. Those for whom Christ is long suffering and patient. Those for whom a time comes where they walk away only to return because His voice calling them is unyielding. Heaven is not populated by the overly-sanctified, overly-missional Christian. It is populated by forgiven sinners whose only defense is the shed blood of the Son of God given for you and for me. If we place any conditions then we say to Christ, "Your blood is not enough for me, and Your grace is not sufficient."

TW

Telling Christ His blood is not enough...

2011-11-20T13:16:00.005-06:00

Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people; but Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." And he laid his hands on them and went away. And behold, one came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which?" And Jesus said, "You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "All these I have observed; what do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Then Peter said in reply, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you. What then shall we have?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many that are first will be last, and the last first. - Matthew 19:13-30

The issue for everyone when it comes to the Kingdom of God is a 1st table issue. It is an issue of the top half of the commandments, the vertical, and not the bottom half, the horizontal. Meaning that it is about our relationship with God in Christ and not of what we do for one another. We try to make more of the latter because those can be quantified. The unfortunate thing, as we'll see, the quantifiable is not enough.

Christ continues His discourse after elaborating on marriage by pointing to children. This is nothing new and has been discussed earlier. However it is important to note that the children were brought to Christ. The children did not come of their own accord but they were brought to Him by those assumed to be their parents. Christ then took a stand for the children and their parents. The disciples were rebuking, but Christ was blessing. He made it clear, again, that the Kingdom belongs to those who come as children. Those who trust in Him alone for who He is as the Christ not in anything they bring of themselves. We will see this unfold through the following.

Upon leaving, a rich man comes to Him and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. This is a mistake but Christ permits it. Jesus even elaborates further and tells him what he might do to be saved, consciously leaving out the most important commandments of loving God first and foremost. Answering in the affirmative that he had kept all of the commandments, Christ then tells Him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." Many latch onto the former, that is the selling of wealth. This is indeed an issue for it says the man was young and wealthy. A poor combination.

Based on the fact that the man was young we can almost assume that he had not earned his wealth but had come by it some other way. Most notably as an inheritance from family or another acquaintance. He then comes to Jesus and asks what he may now do to inherit eternal life. It was not enough to inherit, or receive by little effort, his possessions, but also now he wishes the easiest route towards eternity. Christ brings him back to earth by showing him that the perfection he sought in keeping the letter of the law was lacking. For he had many things but he was unwilling to part with them for the sake of God who made him or for the purpose of following the One who will free him.

Here the first table sins are opened to us. "You shall have no other gods but Me." "Come, follow me." The wealth of this man, like the wealth and lifestyle of many of us, was his god. He cherished them too much, things that more than likely were not his to start with, to give them up would have been a drastic change in his point of view. Let alone to follow a poor carpenter from Nazareth who had no where to lay His head.

This is why it is so difficult for those who lack nothing to enter God's Kingdom. In Biblical times it was almost a given that those who were wealthy, independent of political position, were blessed by God. So they must be automatic entrants to His glory. First in line for the feast. Yet Christ opens up our eyes and ears to make clear the opposite. Wealth and power are things of this kingdom and matter not in God's Kingdom. What matters most is where we stand before God.

In this kingdom, a wealthy man comes by their wealth through either a focus on obtaining it to the point of consumption, or by inheritance where it's value is depreciated. Either way prosperity is a hindrance to the obtaining of Heavenly riches. In His Kingdom our wealth is derived from nail pierced hands. In His Kingdom it comes from a fountain that flows from a mountain called Calvary. It is in Christ and His work on the cross that we find life. In like manner it is our greatest loss that we do not see the sins against God as more weighty than the obedience to the wants or needs of our neighbor.

It is so difficult for any of us to enter on our own accord, through all the good we do on earth, that Christ makes it clear, "Try to shove a hairy beast through the eye of a needle and then get back to Me." Astonishment should cross our minds and we should be heartbroken, taken to fits of despair for that which we wish for we cannot obtain. But Christ says it is possible, through God. By God's grace made known through a phrase, "It is finished", we are brought through that needle. This promise of forgiveness is what frees us. It is not in our works for our neighbor. It is not in our obedience to the Law. It is in His obedience to the Law that we are free from the burden and so we worship Him and serve our neighbor as opportunity arises. If it is done out of necessity it is nothing more than telling Christ that His blood is not enough.

TW

Love in Christ for the bride...

2011-11-19T09:08:00.002-06:00

Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; and large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" He answered, "Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?" He said to them, "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery." The disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry." But he said to them, "Not all men can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it." - Matthew 19:1-12

Marriage is not something to take lightly. We should not wander into it as though we are window shopping. It is meant to be a lifelong commitment to one another where we bind ourselves to each other. And the expectations on us are high. "'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh." One is joined by God to their spouse through vows professed and life committed to each other. In like manner we are joined to Christ through the cross as His bride, washed in His blood and purified through a life that He lived for us.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church; however, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. - Ephesians 5:25-33

So it is that instead of walking away from that which God has joined we are to live selflessly and to love our wives, our spouses as Christ has loved us. Even more as Christ has loved Himself. In one manner we are the bride of Christ purchased by Him through a ransom paid on a tree. We are also to love each other as we love our own bodies. This is exactly what He has done for us. He has loved us enough that He gave us His body, broken and pierced to show us His love by removing our sin. Unlike one who walks away from a relationship because of difficulties, which can happen to all of us, in Christ we are to give of ourselves to one another. To love to the point that we die and live for the sake of our spouse. Just as Christ has died for us and lives again for the sake that we might live through Him.

TW

Forgiven to forgive much...

2011-11-18T08:12:00.002-06:00

Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents; and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, 'Pay what you owe.' So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' He refused and went and put him in prison till he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." - Matthew 18:21-35

Forgiveness is not an uncommon topic in Christian circles. Whether it is the discussion of the heart of Christianity itself (Christ's atoning sacrifice which brings forgiveness to His people) or the very basics of daily forgiveness of our neighbor. The question brought by Peter, following the previous passage, is an honest question. In fact, he thinks himself to be generous since the rabbinic tradition was to forgive only three times. So seven seems to be a great number. For each of us, if we were to have to forgive someone an offence seven times we would probably be tired of it by then. Christ though responds by stating a number that represents the uncountable.

The greek is somewhat vague. It could mean seventy times seven (490) or seventy seven. Either way, the number seven in Scripture lends itself to divinity and completion. We are to forgive our brother until there is no time or forgiveness left. Things have been brought then to completion. To illustrate Christ tells a parable, where a slave owes his master roughly $12 million in Biblical currency. Probably well over that given today's market. Pleading with his master for mercy and time to pay it off, which he would never be able to do, the master forgives the debt and lets the servant go about his day.

Upon leaving his master, the man comes across a fellow servant who owed him $2000. This is not a small sum, especially in that day, so the offence to be forgiven by the slave was not to be a small one. So often we trivialize this as though the man did not carry a sizable enough of a debt for the slave to demand repayment. It was a great offence. A hundred days wages. Yet because of the sum forgiven the slave, his unmerciful action towards his fellow slave was seen as brutal and as one ungrateful for being forgiven his debt. Subsequently, the man is reported to his master and placed in prison until his debt could be paid.

Christ finishes by saying, "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." This is a hard saying for any of us. If we have been forgiven (which we have) we are then expected to forgive one another regardless of the circumstances. If we do not forgive it can be a sign that the blood of Christ means nothing to us.

Illustrated further is that we sin and transgress against God way more than our neighbor could ever do to us. When we sin against our fellow human beings, it is immorality that we commit. All immorality is sin, but not all sin is immorality. What of loving God with all of our being? That is not a sin against neighbor and cannot be quantified. Yet it is sin. He has made us and given us breath and a beating heart, so we owe Him our life.

What of having a god that is not the God and so their by making an idol? Placing something on the altar in the place that God deserves? That is sin. Again it can not truly be quantified and so the debt is unknowable. For each of these we owe a sum that mounts up and compounds with interest and yet we have been forgiven. Not loving God? Christ died for that sin. Taking His name and using it flippantly? Christ died for that sin too. So much so that when a friend refuses to say thank you, talks poorly of us, or even takes from us which is ours, we must forgive because He has forgiven. Those who are forgiven much, must forgive much. Those who forgive little, shall be forgiven little.

TW

To love a brother...

2011-11-17T07:37:00.003-06:00

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them." - Matthew 18:15-20

This is one of the more difficult passages in the Gospels to try and interpret or even understand. It appears to not fit into the train of thought of Matthew. It follows the description of Christ as one who seeks His sheep and precedes the declaration that we must forgive our brothers and sisters more then can be counted. Some take this as a guideline for church polity and discipline. Others will throw it out as an addition to the Gospel that was not there when this was first written or that it is a misunderstanding of something Christ said.

At first we are told, that if our brother sins against us, offends us, or mistreats us we are to go to them in love and confront the situation head on. This is good advice. If we are to clarify a position and bring to our fellow believer the love of Christ the direct face-to-face approach is best. It is Christ's manner of confrontation. He is direct and to the point but also does it out of love in order to bring each of us back to Him.

If our brother refuses to clarify his position where he wronged us or denies any wrong doing, and there seems no way to rectify the situation, we must bring some other believers with us and they are to be witnesses to the discipleship process. Instead of discipline, this should be considered discipleship. It is where we are trying to help each of us grow in holiness and our faith in Christ. This is not to be a process of gnat-straining or nit-picking. This is done for outright sin against us or maybe even public sin. It is also done, in light of the forthcoming passages, for the purpose of the sanctification of the offender, not the offended. We should not make it into a witch-hunt and use fellow believers to condemn those whom we disagree with, but it is to help combat sin that may keep us from growing in Christlikeness or divide the Body of Christ.

If the team method fails as well, then it should be brought before the congregation as a whole to make the decision on what should be done. This could be seen as a way to avoid factional confrontation. It is also good in the discernment process to see if what we truly find as a sin against us is one serious enough to involve banishment. The assumption can be made though that coming to our brother in the Name of Christ, whether alone or with 2-3 companions should end the matter.

If it does not, what are we to do? It says here to treat them as a sinner, or someone outside of the Body of Christ. What are we to do here then? Are we to leave them in their sin, banish them from our community of faith where the Gospel is proclaimed, and never aid them again? Absolutely not for it says nothing of the sort. This is an unfortunate consequence of many churches today. They read into this an Old Testament mindset of Pharisaical Judaism where tax collectors and gentiles were outside of God's Kingdom. In fact what we see is that we are to do just as Christ did to sinners and tax collectors, we preach the Good News. This brother, if we are to treat them as an unbeliever, must be then brought back to belief. Brought back to repentance and trust in Christ. If we walk away from them are we being loving or forgiving? Are we showing them the grace and forgiveness found in Christ? No we are not.

If we choose to go down the path of shunning this child of God, we are binding them to their earthly frailty and not releasing them of their bondage to sin which comes through the Gospel of Christ. That is what is meant by binding and loosing (see an earlier post). We have the keys to the Kingdom: Christ and the cross. If we keep them hidden then we bind our hearers. If we freely proclaim them, then those who believe then are free. Those who refuse bind themselves.

This is all done with the understanding that Christ is amongst us and should be sought as we pray and discern in discipleship. We must not do as we would wish to do on our own accord or for our own selfishness, but do things with Christ and the church in mind. The Gospel of Christ and even Christ Himself are to be our only aim and so in seeking Him and His counsel we will then fulfill our obligation to disciple one another in love and in the Lord. The freedom we find in the blood of Christ, the price that was paid to redeem us from our sin, should be what draws us to Him and guides any discernment we must make in our dealings with one another.

TW

The Healer Who Heals

2011-11-16T22:17:00.002-06:00

Our pastor fell ill in the first service so I volunteered to preach the second. 45 minutes of prep and know manuscript which is not how I write sermons or speeches. Listen at your own risk.

TW

The same for each...

2011-11-16T07:54:00.003-06:00

"What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." - Matthew 18:12-14

In the Kingdom of God we have a Kingdom that is upside down. The least are the greatest and the greatest are the least. But also the Kingdom is one in which the subjects are not serfs or slaves, but children. Children of the King who has redeemed them with His own blood. Because of this they are precious to Him.

If one of these children, these sheep, wander off in search of something else other than the King, the Shepherd, He leaves His other children and goes to seek after that one whom He loves and knows has wandered. When He finds it, which He will, we rejoice for the child of God has returned. The flock is complete again. The table places are fully set and the feast has begun.

It is a truth then that God is One who seeks His own. If He seeks after you, you will be found. Could also be said that He makes Himself known to those who are seeking Him. For He does not want any of His children, His sheep, to perish. This is not just those who walk away that He runs after. This also includes those who stay where they are. He cares just as much for those who remain in the fold. He brings them water when they thirst. He feeds them with His very life given on the cross when they hunger. Both those who may have a habit for wandering and those who do all He says mean the same to Him. It could in fact be any of His sheep that fall behind, sprint ahead, or turn to the side. He cares the same for each.

TW

Not of Christ...

2011-11-15T08:07:00.003-06:00

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven." - Matthew 18:1-10

The greatest shall be the least and the least the greatest. As a child we have many different characteristics that make us thus. One is dependence. We are dependent upon our parents to feed us, clothe us, wash us, and guide us. In like manner a child of God must depend on Him for the same. He feeds us through His Word which opens our eyes and ears to see and hear from Jesus. He clothes us with His righteousness, a righteousness that is not our own, so that we might confidently stand before the throne of God as one redeemed by the blood of Christ shed for us. He washes us with that blood to remove our stains of sin and shame to give us a new life in Him. He guides us by shining forth from that beacon of the cross that points us to Calvary and to a life born from wounds we deserved.

Unfortunately all children begin to grow up and feel less of a dependence. It is then that we must trust in Him like a child. Children will trust their parents, especially if they are given a reason to do so, above all others. We come to God in the same way and trust in a sacrifice made for us. We trust in and believe that Christ has taken away our sins and raised us to newness of life in Him.

As we grow and learn in the life that follows Jesus we often stumble into temptation and a belief that we can do on our own what truly is impossible for us. Much of it is contributed through an attitude of unlearning. Things we used to hold as truth we start to question because we think we are too intelligent or too old for them now.

Christ says that one who will lead a child of God astray is to be seen as outside of the Kingdom. He is to be greatly pitied because he has condemned himself in his selfishness by trying to take the place of what Christ is supposed to do in the life of the believer. It would be like someone coming to you and taking your child away from you as it's parents. You would wish them harm. Christ says that it would be better that they were to kill themselves than to do what it is that distracts anyone from Christ and the cross.

In the same way it is better, if any part of us is to lead us or others to sin, it is good to root it out. Do some weeding. Remove anything that will remove us from Christ. If my right hand is leading me down a road towards works righteousness. Towards trusting in all the things I do "for the Kingdom" as the fruit from the tree, instead of trusting in the soil, the roots and the tree, I must be willing to do what is necessary to stop this distraction. It may mean I cut myself off from ministry to dig deeper into the truths of Christ, of the Gospel that sets us free, and the ways it may lead me to selflessness. It may mean I must stop associations or migrations which lead down a different path from that of Calvary. For if Christ is not that focus, than it is not of Christ.

TW

A king pays the tax...

2011-11-14T08:18:00.003-06:00

As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day." And they were greatly distressed. When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the half-shekel tax went up to Peter and said, "Does not your teacher pay the tax?" He said, "Yes." And when he came home, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their sons or from others?" And when he said, "From others," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel; take that and give it to them for me and for yourself." - Matthew 17:22-27

As fallen humanity, we often are blinded by happenings that are unexplainable or supernatural. These things will leave us unaware of the truth or make the truth seem unacceptable because of a portion of the story. The incidental nature of a coin-mouthed fish should not be overlooked but may distract us from the meaning that is the point.

"Does your Teacher pay the tax?" A simple question with a simple reply: "Yes." "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." The yearly obligation of tax and sacrifice was made manifest in the very existence of the Teacher on earth. He was to be delivered into the hands of men as the sacrificial Lamb for our judgement. Like those for which the temple tax procured. He was killed to fulfill the works of the law like those sheep for our condemnation. Like those sheep His blood covers our sin, not temporarily, but for a lifetime. An eternity of forgiveness bought in a moment and realized on that third day.

As children of God, His first-born, the ones who inherit His Kingdom, we are free. Set free by a Body, not our own, but that of the King. The one who could have exacted a tax from us placed it on Himself to be sure the price carried it's full value. He made sure that He would not be undersold by paying the toll for all of us. It is not in a fish that we trust or in a sum that we may collect on our own merit, but that of the work of Christ for us.

TW

The we fails...

2011-11-12T07:27:00.002-06:00

And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and kneeling before him said, 15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him." 17 And Jesus answered, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me." 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20 He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." - Matthew 17:14-20

"Why could we not cast it out?" An innocent question. The disciples wish to know why they failed. They possibly could look to Christ's response as He is approached by the father of this boy now healed. They still though wish to have their faith reviewed. It is in their question that the result is made evident.

"why could WE not cast it out?" The emphasis and trust was in themselves. They saw the gift Christ gave to them in being able to cast out demons as some magical formula or special ability originating in themselves. Christ, however, sees this and knows that it is their faith, the poorness of it, it's frailty that caused their failure. When we have a faith built not on the power of Christ and the grace of God we then have a faith struck by poverty which is based on anything but the Giver of the faith we are to have. They trust in the power and not the Giver.

In the same way we see that the father of this child looked past the disciples and came to Christ. His faith was rooted in that Christ is the Healer. The One who casts out our diseases, our sins, our pain and shame. He had great faith. He knew that this Jesus was One who could and would heal because that is what He does. For faith in man fails. Faith in the flesh, in the brokenness of humanity, to do something extraordinary and outside of themselves will leave us heartbroken.

But trust in Christ, in His power based in the cross, will be a faith that overcomes. It is something that brings us through trials and tribulations because we know that in Him is safety. In Him is love and peace. In Him is forgiveness and grace. Unless we are willing to cast our eyes to Him, and not to something we believe we have in ourselves, we will never be able to survive through troubles, or to overcome the worst or best we may face.

TW

From glory to glory...

2011-11-11T07:49:00.002-06:00

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and have no fear." And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead." And the disciples asked him, "Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?" He replied, "Elijah does come, and he is to restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of man will suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. - Matthew 17:1-13

God seems at home on mountains. I have said it before but it seems necessary at every turn to reiterate the appropriate nature of this fact. It is on mountain tops that God's glory comes forth. It is there that He does the work of gathering His people to Himself.

On this mountain we see the culmination of the Old Testament coming to fulfillment in the Christ. In this Jesus is the Law of Moses as He is the Word of God. But even more it is that Christ comes as the Word, as the Law, and puts to death the law on our behalf at Mt. Calvary. In Elijah we see the example of the prophetic proclamation of the One who is to come. The fulfillment of all that was prophesied. That God would have a Chosen One, a Messiah, come to rescue His people and to gather them up as He did in the days of old.

Even more so we see that Christ's glory is at home in the glory of God. He shines forth in the cloud. The same cloud that covered at Sinai. The same cloud that led His people out slavery. The same cloud that settled in the tabernacle and the temple to say of God "This is My dwelling and My purpose. To lead My people to Myself so that they may glory in what has been done for them in Me."

It is there on this mountain that God leads to and foreshadows where His true glory will live: in the cross. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father." (John 1:14) Christ's throne is the cross. It is in the cross that He died and His flesh was broken, the very Word of God, for our sins. For you and for me. It is there that He has gathered His people to Himself and so there His glory dwells. As the Israelites gloried in the Exodus and in Sinai, so should we glory in the cross and in Christ. He is our Sinai, our law, and the cross is our Exodus. We have been led forward by Him from the mountain to dwell with Him in what He has done on our behalf. "...you shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins."

TW

Daily dying...

2011-11-10T07:56:00.003-06:00

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." - Matthew 16:24-28

To follow Christ is not a doing but a trusting. We trust enough to come to Him as He comes to us. He, being the originator of our faith and salvation, were captured by Him in no uncertain terms so that we cannot do anything but come and follow. In like manner we live a life, a faith that is outside of us, in self-denial. This is not that we deny things in a manner as an ascetic to purify ourselves, to justify ourselves, and make ourselves more righteous. It is that we deny those exact things. We remove any inclination to make ourselves righteous in the eyes of God due to anything we have done. We lay at the foot of the cross our pride and desire to work ourselves to holiness and trust solely in the promise that He is our righteousness.

When we follow along the Way, we carry our cross daily. But it is not ours, it is His. Each day we see the old man put to death with Christ on the cross and raised with Him so that each day is new. We lose our life for the sake of His gift and promise of salvation. We cannot begin to grasp the infinite grace and mercy of His love and work on our behalf. A day can go by and we can forget what a gift we have in His death. Day after day we die, are buried, and raised with Him.

We then do what we do because of what He did. He lives in us and has sealed us in His baptism of faith and so we walk in Him to do only what we must according to His works done for us. We love because He has loved. We heal because He has healed. We feed and bring water to the thirsty because He fed us at the mountain and washed us through His wounds. These things are not done to hopefully please Him so He might bless us. They are not done because we need to make ourselves more righteous or acceptable before Him. We do them because service is the crucified life. It is the dying to self and living in Christ.

TW

A past reality...

2011-11-09T07:37:00.002-06:00

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you." But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men." - Matthew 16:13-23

The church and our Lord's Kingdom are not built by stone. He does build on a rock: Himself. "A cornerstone chosen and precious." The stone of faith in Him as the Messiah. The Christ. The Chosen One of God. Chosen for a purpose, that is "to save His people from their sins." In Him as the Son of the Living God. The One who brings life to the dead and dying. In so doing He defeats death. Death brought about by the works of the evil one who used a tree to make us fall has fallen because of a tree where our Savior bled and died for you and me.

The keys He gives to heaven are found in the Gospel. That which frees us and has opened the gates of Heaven to us. A message that Christ loves sinners, and by so loving them He gave Himself for them. Where this is spoken people are freed and where it is hidden people remain in bondage. The verbs "shall be" are not enough but actually say "shall have been". They are a past reality. Those sins we think remain before us have been hidden in Christ already. They were hidden long ago. But without faith, without trusting in that promise, they will always remain to keep us captive.

Even so we often choose to deny His power. We will deny that His sacrifice was necessary. We will deny the scope for which His blood has covered the entirety of our sin. We deny that what He said is what He did. It was not that He made a way for us to save ourselves or that He made a path for us to follow. He is the path. He is the solid footing in which we walk in confidence before the throne of mercy. If we deny this we deny who He is (Yeshua: God saves) and His purpose for which He came to Earth (to save His people from their sins). We limit His power and hold ourselves captive and disbelieve that which sets us free (the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world). Therefore, get behind ye. Follow where He goes and see what He has done. Look to His cross and works of Calvary and then see if your denial holds true.

TW

Watch the leaven...

2011-11-08T07:41:00.002-06:00

When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." And they discussed it among themselves, saying, "We brought no bread." But Jesus, aware of this, said, "O men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How is it that you fail to perceive that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. - Matthew 16:5-12

The disciples had forgotten to think of the table. That could be a symptom of Pharisaical interruptions, where the doing of the extraordinary can become so important that we neglect the ordinary things we need. We strap ourselves to some theological or philosophical emphasis and allow it to distract us from all that should sustain us.

Here, even after feeding multitudes and perceiving miracles, the disciples are left hungry. Their thoughts turn to the need for bread and food for the journey. Yet leading them across the sea is the very Bread from Heaven. The One for whom the Scriptures told would bring life to the dead, and mend dry bones in the wilderness. The Word of God made flesh had just finished dealing with the teachings of the religious leaders while showing forth His power and the disciples still did not understand His will or His meaning.

"Beware the leaven of the leaders." Beware the teachings of those who co-opt you into believing a lie or majoring in the minors. Do not trust in that which does not save but kills. The law, the following of rules to try and make us worthy, is their to put us to death. It shows us that we need this Jesus who forgives and saves, who justifies and washes us clean. So often one hears a teacher say that you will be blessed if you will just obey. How many of us can though? Do we truly obey to the point of never disobeying? No, but One who we never thought we needed was obedient, even to death on a cross for our sins and to set us free from the law that leaves us hungry.

We must beware though the tyrannical nature of the law. It is one thing to speak of sin and another of immorality. What we see as sin may just be immoral for some. Smoking, drinking, swearing, and gambling come to mind. They aren't smart to do sometimes, and can lead to sin but are not necessarily sin in themselves. However, living a vulgar lifestyle full of pride and anger, denying love to anyone except a select few who support our naivete. This leads us down a different road. One filled with sinkholes and ruts. It is wide enough to fit all of us. Yet, this Jesus, who says "Beware for even the food you demand may corrupt you", says also "Come and feast on Me. Be satisfied in my Word and blessed in my death. For I will never leave you hungry and will be with you even when you fall."

TW

A sign they didn't know they wanted...

2011-11-07T07:16:00.002-06:00

"And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, 'When it is evening, you say, "It will be fair weather; for the sky is red." And in the morning, "It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening." You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah.' So he left them and departed." - Matthew 16:1-4

Even Christ, being the very Word of God, appeals to the Scriptures for the teachers of the law and for us. "No sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah." This is an uncommon response that Christ gives in an uncommon way. For He had done signs. The lame were walking, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, and the dumb speaking. Those held captive by all that the religious leaders taught were being released from the prisons that were entrenched in their souls. With all this many were astounded, and yet the leaders demanded a sign.

The appeal to Jonah is used elsewhere in Scripture to detail the reality of His approaching death and resurrection (Matt 12:38-45). That He will be in the earth for three days and nights. More important though are the elements that are often overlooked. The first as Christ the preacher bringing repentance and calling the generations of then and the people of now to turn from their works-righteousness, from their pride in self, from their attempts to justify themselves and look to Christ the axis upon which our minds will change. For as Jonah brought a call to repentance to a people who had never heard such a thing, so Christ comes to us to break down our misconceptions and open our hearts with His Body and Blood.

More so is the second and more meaningful. Most people of His day would see a God of expectations. A God who needs us to satisfy Him through legal observance, blood sacrifice, and avoidance of the "unclean". But here comes this Jesus. One who embodies that which Jonah despised:

And [Jonah] prayed to the LORD and said, "I pray thee, LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repentest of evil. Therefore now, O LORD, take my life from me, I beseech thee, for it is better for me to die than to live." - Jonah 4:2-3

It is that Jonah knew God to be one who is unrelenting in mercy and love, whose justice is found in the works of His Son on the cross where what we deserve was taken on by this Jesus to do what only He can do. Amazingly, the generation who most likely agreed with the attitude of Jonah saw Christ face-to-face, bringing the Gospel in a Bodily way. In a way that any who doubted only need look into His eyes and see mercy and watch and see the gathering together of His people through trust in who He is and what He has done. If we must need a sign from God, a message to bring us hope and solace, we look to the Cross, to this Jesus, our Christ, who does what only He can do.

TW

This Jesus who breaks the Bread...

2011-11-05T08:54:00.002-05:00

"Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 'I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.' The disciples said to him, 'Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?' Jesus asked them, 'How many loaves have you?' They said, 'Seven, and a few small fish.' Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all of them ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full." - Matthew 15:32-37

It is hard to come to Jesus and not find compassion. This Jesus is compassion. Rarely has He displayed righteous anger unless it has to do with the subjugation of the faithful by the religious and the pious. Even when surrounded by a multitude for three days, left hungry by the passing of time, there was nothing else for the Bread of Life to do other than to love and to feed those whom He has gathered to Himself.

"Man is not to live by bread alone," unless it is the Bread broken for mankind. Found in such a small matter to the world as "a man" condemned for heresy, nailed to a tree and placed on high to be seen by all passersby in disgrace, not knowing that it was time there for the gathering of the loaves and fishes to feed the multitude on that hill. For it was this time in which the roles were reversed in that it was us who were giving thanks for breaking the bread. Being thankful for His silence, not knowing it was our actions, and His silence, that were ushering in an overflow of His compassion and mercy. It was in our breaking of the Bread that we were to be satisfied and never to go hungry again.

Even as we were working to destroy Him by the work which He could not avoid, we were later to discover that there is more leftover for us to gather than we could ever imagine. Whether it be in His body given for you and His blood shed for you, or in a baptism based on a promise given by the seal of a Name unlike any other. Brought to us not to be bought and sold at the whim of those in control but freely given as a revolutionary who subverts the status quo. Who comes to us and removes from us any prestige of which we think we might carry and leaves us there with ordinary things. Loaves and fishes. Bread and wine. Body and blood. Water and Word. Leaving us satisfied for all eternity not for our own sake, but because it is what He does based on Him being this Jesus.

TW

2 hills, 1 outcome...

2011-11-04T10:41:00.003-05:00

"After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel." - Matthew 15:29-31

Expectation can be a cure. Just the anticipation of one coming to visit can make us jump for joy and put a smile on our faces as we look towards the arrival for whom we are waiting. Christ, as He began His ministry, made known to His hearers the reality of His arrival. That He is, even that He embodies, the promise given generations before.

"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit." - Isaiah 61:1-3a

These words from the prophet, quoted by the Lord in part at the inauguration of His earthly ministry in Luke 4, describe wholly that which was seen in part by those on that hill that one day in Galilee. They brought the blind and the lame, those captive to the brokenness that is humanity, and then they watched as each was looked upon with compassion and healed of their afflictions. For some this was enough.

Maybe many praised God due only to the doing of His Jesus-work. Maybe some glorified God because they knew the Jesus, the One who was proclaimed in the words of old, the One who is the Word of old, had come finally to release us and proclaim the Lord's favor. Who on another hill would comfort us in God's vengeance, not upon us, but upon this Jesus, this Yeshua, who is "God saves". Who came to be the "Releaser." Who came to set us free through a condemnation we will never understand. Who makes wedding clothes of our tattered rags and an oil of gladness from tears shed. Who through His works that only a Jesus such as this can do, gave freedom to us so that we, even as prisoners and the afflicted, no longer are condemned or burdened. Just that one day on a hill in Galilee, like a day on hill outside Jerusalem, men and women gloried in that which only a Jesus, this Jesus, can do.

TW

Scraps are enough...

2011-11-03T09:12:00.002-05:00

"Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, 'Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.' But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, 'Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.' He answered, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' But she came and knelt before him, saying, 'Lord, help me.' He answered, 'It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.' She said, 'Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.' Then Jesus answered her, 'Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.' And her daughter was healed instantly." - Matthew 15:21-28

It is through faith by which we are saved. Faith, or trust, in the grace of a saving God whose love spans the depths of the Earth. Faith in a God who acts on account of His mercy and grace not on account of who is receiving either gift.

It is here, as in many portions of the Gospels, that Christ is demolishing the stereotypes of His audience to make clear the breadth of the saving actions of the Cross. Those listening to His interaction with the faithful woman were in agreement with the dialogue. Jews would not socialize with gentiles, let alone worship with them. Yet, Christ matches His persistence with that of the mother of a sick child. Showing forth that which was yet to come, the salvation of the world bought by His blood and covering not only the chosen tribe of the world but all those who trust in His works.

It is not as though her faith had made her daughter well. It was not as though her persistence would force Him to act. It was Christ, waiting to make clear the trust this child of God had in His Son and His ability to heal the sick, teaching a lesson in mercy and abundant love by using our presuppositions against us to open the way for all that He has to offer. He may have come for the lost sheep of Israel, but He has others who are not of that fold who shall feast even on the crumbs. For a drop of His blood, a scrap of His body, is more than enough to cleanse those whose trust lies in the salvation and hope He provides.

TW

Expecting nothing old...

2011-11-02T07:54:00.003-05:00

"Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.’ He answered them, ‘And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?...Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile." - Matthew 15:1-20

Breaking with tradition. Doing what seems to have never been done before. These words can often be seen as the worst thing to ever happen to a church. We like our comfort, and we should be able to be comforted and feel safe in worship and the sanctuary where we gather to hear from God. But it is God Himself who has chosen to break tradition.

Like all other religions it was tradition to take part in a regulated lifestyle, a legalistic spirituality in order to reach to God. God though, in the form of an Infant born in a manger, came to us and reached out to us in our humanity to reconcile with us over all these things that defile us. Not in the traditions for which we measured our life in God through outward practice, but through an inward work of grace made perfect on a cross to forgive us of those things that proceed from our hearts.

It too is in the outward signs of piety that we get trapped in attempting to return our old ways instead of living in THE Way. It is there, by expecting the unclean to wash themselves, be clean-shaven, and dress appropriately before they come into our presence and especially into the service our Lord provides, that we fall. This would be customary in tradition and polite society, not knowing that it is in coming to Service, hearing from the Lord, receiving His Sacraments, that He does the washing of each of us, including the "unclean", which is us. We expect cleanliness before being washed so we try to clean ourselves up. We expect obedience before knowledge when we cannot comprehend what it is we need. We expect that in our broken state to repair ourselves before we come to the repairman.

A washing is prepared and waiting. Repair has been done and can be afforded without cost. The One who has come does not want the already clean to come as they are, but the dirty to come because they cannot do otherwise. The Fountain has been poured out to wash us of those things that truly defile so that even when our hands make us dirty He stands waiting for when we call.

TW

Recognize the unrecognizable...

2011-11-01T11:41:00.003-05:00

"When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. After the people of that place recognized him, they sent word throughout the region and brought all who were sick to him, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed." - Matthew 14:34-36

Those who recognized Christ must have known what to look for. This may not mean they were expecting Him, or that He wore a name-tag, but something of Him, or His followers, made Him known to the unknowing. Yet, we are told nothing of Him was to be seen as attractive. It could however be His essence, His message of belief in the Good News, or His compassion for those who were broken.

Making Christ clear to those who may not even be seeking Him is essential. Recognizing Him for who He is (Risen Savior, Son of God, Conqueror of sin, Death, and the Devil), those pieces that are unrecognizable, paves the way for us to come to Him for what He offers. In Him we find healing. Healing for our souls from all that has crushed us in our bondage to all He destroyed at Calvary. Reconciliation. Being reconciled to the Father not of our own doing, but the doing of the One whom He has seen face-to-face.

We come to Him for what He provides in His rest from all we cannot do. His washing of us which makes us truly clean. In so doing we then desire, hope and pray that those for whom we know may come to see Him for who He is and to even touch His cloak to find rest and peace found in the unmerited favor He bestows upon all of us.

"...but he whom God raised up experienced no corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses." - Acts 13:37-39

TW

Command me to come...

2011-04-29T16:32:00.002-05:00

But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” - Matthew 14:26-31

Our first impressions of God should be fear. When confronted with the presence of God in the garden, Adam and Eve hid out of fear because of their shame. When faced by the Voice calling from Mt. Sinai commanding law and righteousness, the people of Israel quaked with fright. So should we. Faced with the law, our condemnation at the hand of a holy God, we should be afraid. We cannot keep it because even in our desire to keep it we dishonor Him by taking away His desire to redeem us by His might.

It was His decision to redeem us based on the good work done by Christ on the cross. It was in His own redemption of creatures whom He created that He is most glorified, and it is in that where we come to Him in the only way we can, through His calling to us. When Christ bids us to "Come", it is not necessarily to follow Him in doing what He does, but to drown with Him to be restored to new life. He died for us so we must die in order to be restored.

Even if we doubt His power to save, assume a need for us to do something, or dishonor Him by denying His place at the head of the table, as we sink beneath the waves and cry out to Him for mercy and to save us, He is just as gracious then as He was at Calvary. "Forgive them. They know not what they are doing." Even as we despise Him as He is doing His work of atonement, He is all forgiveness. When we fall, get drowned in sin and doubt, and demand even more, He is there to take our hand and save us, because He already has.

TW

Treasure is calling...

2011-04-28T08:30:00.002-05:00

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. - Matthew 13:44-46

"the Kingdom of Heaven is like...". This is a favorite phrase of Matthew and of the beginnings of the Parables. Quite often Christ begins with this because He is wishing to delineate the difference between Heaven and earth. The differences between man and God. In reality, as example, man would not act as the Good Samaritan did, by binding the wounds and nursing to health his enemy, but would in fact, and more often than not wander on the other side for that is easier.

Here we see a call for man to find the Kingdom as precious like treasures unforeseen. It is so precious, the life of the Gospel found in the death of Christ, that we are willing to sell all we have, including our comfort and life itself, to obtain it or remain with it. One would find Christ and His glory so profound and desirable that mere jewels could not compare to that crown of thorns. Plain water does not suffice in light of that which flowed from the fountain in His side.

In like manner it is to be sought. We may never seek for the Kingdom of God in reality, but may be searching for the end of it's means. We seek rest and peace, salvation and forgiveness, and we find it in Christ. If we are walking down the path, and stumble upon a Rock purposefully placed at our feet, we can't but notice. God is one who draws people to Himself, but also makes Himself known in order to be found. Those who seek but not find, may need to ask what are they looking for in God? If it is a Savior, go for He is calling.

TW

Ordinary love in the extraordinary...

2011-04-27T10:14:00.003-05:00

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” - Matthew 12:1-8

Ordinary work is forbidden on the Sabbath. So says the laws of Moses in Leviticus. Here the disciples are called out for this ordinary work of plucking heads of grain, uncooked, un-milled, not baked into bread. It is there though that Christ opens up the Scriptures even more by placing the blame back on the Pharisees. Mercy over sacrifice. Mercy which may involve food for the hungry and drink for the thirsty. Mercy which may even involve sacrifice, giving of something or even one's own life for the good of the neighbor.

Mercy is often seen even in the law. God could have prescribed no rest at all. Yet He demands a rest. A rest from ourselves. A rest in Christ and His redemptive work. A rest to God and the mercy He brings each day through His grace.

It is strange to to see those words in Leviticus: "you shall not do any ordinary work" (23:8). It is in the ordinary, in the easy, in the doings of life, we may take for granted which will cheapen all that God has and wishes to do. For it is His decision to do the work, the work of rest and peace, the ordinary through the extraordinary for you and for me. Taking the form of man to sacrifice Himself on a cross like a criminal in order to take our sins and kill them with His body only to rise to bring us rest.

In a prescription for no work, and to rest in Him and what He has done, God gave a foretaste of delight in the Gospel. In the Gospel we find no room for our work. Our ordinary things, which are the only things we can ever do, cannot come close to His extraordinary. By working we bring disgrace to His death and feel His provision of life and rest are not enough for us. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He is the originator of it, the sustainer of it, the One who it points to and gives us life. He is our Sabbath because in Him we may go home in peace from all the sins that bring us down and the works we think we need to make us holy. He doesn't need the holy, but He does need the sinner. For these He loves.

TW

Rest while walking...

2011-04-26T09:31:00.002-05:00

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:25-30

It may be tiring for some to hear over and over again the words of peace from Christ. It may be tiring for you to hear everyday that your sins are forgiven. Whether things are great or painful, we rarely remember the matters of heavenly things. In much or want we will always forget where we stand before God. Maybe some will paint their loss as punishment from a divine judge, or their gains by the delight the Father has in something they have done. Yet it is neither to the judged or the privileged that Christ has revealed Himself, but to the likes of little children. Those who come when they are called, believe because they believe, trust because they can't imagine not trusting the Father.

In His will God chose to bring unto Himself those who would not be expected to come. The cast offs and failures, the lost and the least, so as to slam the door in the face of those who come for any other reason than Him. Who bring anything with them other than their sin. It is those whom He calls to come to Him, who seek rest for their souls, seek a burden that is easy to carry, one not weighed down like a millstone around their neck, and they will come. If you are given something easier, something better, something that leads to life, you would drop everything to take that way.

His heart is gentle and lowly. He wishes to bring people together who seek to drink from His well daily. Those who seek to have their burdens carried for them, their yokes broken, having such a light weight to take that it is actually rest. A rest in not tarrying anymore to reach across a canyon to wide to jump. Instead we lay upon Him our pain and shame and walk in His way where He may lead. It may take longer, and may be hard, but if you are taking a rest nothing more can be expected.

TW

A Kingdom not for us....

2011-04-25T09:22:00.002-05:00

From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. - Matthew 11:12-14

To take a Kingdom that is not of this world by violent force is extremely dangerous. Waging war against the One who holds life in the palms of His hands is only seeking suicide at the hands of our own as we are trampled during retreat. Unless of course the Kingdom against whom we are making siege is a city of refuge and a place we have never seen before, or even expected.

For some the violence could be that of necessity. Believing that we must fight our way to God, building ladders of sticks and stones that we have fashioned into idols. Maybe an idol of works. If we just do enough God has to accept us because we are doing stuff for Him so we deserve a reward. But what if we don't do enough? Or maybe an idol of thoughts. If we just believe the right thing we are in the Kingdom. But if we are wrong on anything we are lost. In these ways we prepare for combat and try to do something to bring honor to ourselves and climb into the city through any other way than the main gate. This could be what is meant by prophets and the law speaking of these things. Speaking of men trying to do everything to take hold of a Kingdom not there own.

It could be though that the violence spoken of and the violent in particular were those clamoring for Christ. Those who come running after the Lamb of God who will take away their sin. They will do anything to get the treasure of forgiveness, to find their place at the table, and to make their way through the gate of salvation. So much so that they are willing to be wounded, and indeed they must. In our souls being wounded by our sin, and dying to ourselves, we then are raised by Christ. What kills us is the onslaught of the Kingdom. The destruction of man-made inventions we call religion. For once He sweats and bleeds the religion out of us, we then can come to the only place available for salvation, Christ alone.

TW

Sword and the stone...

2011-04-24T10:58:00.002-05:00

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. - Matthew 10:34-39

It is a difficult day, Easter. Not to be overshadowed by joy and praise, but it is hard. It is there that most seek something that is not where it is supposed to be. If something is not where it belongs, or does not exist as what some have expected, it is hard to believe or comprehend. It is there also that those who believe come in conflict with those who don't.

On this day, Resurrection Sunday, the disciples are in the same place as we are now. They come to His tomb, seeking their teacher who proclaimed good news. Expecting to anoint a body and to mark a headstone where their Master will lie forever. So quickly forgetting that He said of Himself "I am the resurrection and the life." But what a surprise they must have had. They do not find Him there for He has risen! He has risen indeed, just as He said.

Death could not hold Him. This, most of all is hard for us, because we cheapen death by trying to ignore it, not seeing that it is our due. We waste money to try and keep ourselves from it. There are those in our society that kill each other over meaningless things. Over shoes, jerseys, colors, and names. Even more we cheapen a greater death by giving little about the One who gave much. Many of us, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, come once, maybe twice a year, to proclaim our devotion and faith, and yet we don't believe. We say we do but we deceive ourselves. If we did believe we would be reminded each day by sins that we commit that it was for those that He came, He lived, He died, and He rose. That lie you told last week? He died for that. That thought I had yesterday? He died for that. That affair your neighbor has been having? He died for that, too. He died for it all, because of it all, or He would not have come at all.

If we were not and are not sinners in thought, word and deed, He would never have come because His sacrifice, His death, would not have been necessary. It was necessary, because it happened. This is why there will be division among us. Some call themselves sinners, others saints, but it usually is the sinners that believe themselves saints. They seek after a Savior who will die and stay dead so they won't be reminded of what they need most. If He died and did not rise we would still be in our sin. But His rising brings us new life, a washing in rebirth. This is hardest of all, because only those who know they are dirty will ever realize what was done to cleanse them. Because all our sins went with Him to the grave and He left them there. Never to be heard from again.

On that mountain, Mount Calvary
My Savior did bleed by my hand for me
Though in the grave His body did lay
He rose to free me this Easter day

TW

Harvested and sown...

2011-04-23T14:36:00.003-05:00

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” - Matthew 9:35-38

Preaching, teaching, and healing. That is Christ. That is Christian ministry. Christ spent His time proclaiming the good news of salvation to all who would hear. He sat down in religious circles and made clear the words of God as He is the Word of God. He healed and cleansed all who came to Him in order that His glory and the glory of the Father might be made manifest amongst His people.

Through all these things, the threefold office of ministry, Jesus especially looked out upon the crowds, upon those seeking comfort and rest, and had compassion on them and showed mercy to them. This on account of their burdens of sin and the law that weighed them down. Harassed by the Religious, they were so ready for good news, for redemption and love. They needed a Shepherd, One to guide them into the truth, and Christ knew this. He could see it in their eyes.

The harvest, as He calls it, is plentiful. There are those who need the Gospel, not to change their lives or make their world a better place, but they need it to trust in. They have come to where they cannot live out the law. They try and they fail. They wish to have something steady, a solid rock, to place their hope and trust. They cannot find it in mankind or in themselves, but they can find it in Christ. In His work on the cross, that it is a concrete happening. Because on that one afternoon, on a mountain outside Jerusalem, God died for His enemies, took on all our sins and cast them away. If this is not enough, the words "It is finished" must be. If this is still not enough then look to your baptism, where you died in Christ, and rose to newness of life and were sealed in the Name of the Triune Gog.

The seed has been sown in you. The Spirit has done His work or else you would not be here reading this. You have been gathered and stored in the Name of God. In the Name of Jesus you come to the "God who saves".

TW

Twelve years and clean...

2011-04-22T08:26:00.002-05:00

If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity....But if she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. And on the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the priest shall use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge. - Leviticus 15:25-30

And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. - Matthew 9:20-22

Twelve years is a very long time. Twelve years of being unclean. Of being ostracized, an outcast, of making much of her possessions and others unclean because of a illness she could do nothing about. Twelve years of pain and heartache. Twelve years can make you desperate. So desperate as to see the Healer coming and think, "If only I touch the hem of His garment, I will be healed." This desperation can create a faith, sometimes blinding, but when you have nothing to lose you may as well try. The Healer should have been unclean. She touched Him. He would then have to go about seven days before His cleansing He could be clean again. Or does He?

Once she is made clean, once she is healed, what a set of circumstances to take on to follow the ways of the law. The purchase of sacrifices, the approach to the Temple, the confession to the priest to make atonement for her. What she did not know is that the High Priest was before her. The sacrifice that atones for sin was whom she had touched and whom she had trusted for her cleansing. He did not look in disdain on her, He did not run away from her in fright for she is unclean. He looked on her with compassion. He opened her up to the truth that lies in the faith that saves. This faith, this trust, in a blood that does not make you unclean, but cleanses you from all your sin. A Sacrificial Lamb who makes atonement for all mankind to deliver them from bondage and free them from death and the devil. A healer who heals the unclean, calls the outcast, and leads us with a faith He provides.

Today is Good Friday. A day of somber remembrance on which we recall that because of our sin we put to death our enemy only to find out that it was actually God dying for His enemies. It is a day in which we have to come to grips with the fact that if it were not for our sin He would not have died. If it were not for our pride and anger He would not have been scourged, beaten, spat upon, nailed through to a cross, hung in mockery, pierced in the side, crowned with thorns, and suffered alone. Yet, if it was not for this we would not be forgiven, cleansed, freed, healed, all because of His love for us.

TW

Forgiveness is as Forgiveness does...

2011-04-21T06:35:00.003-05:00

And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men. - Matthew 9:1-8

Coming home for many can be a difficult thing. Memories are always powerful, sometimes deceptive, and rarely are overcome even when time passes. Sins that were committed, although forgiven, are often not forgotten. Those we grow up with know many of our secrets and have seen our warts and lived to tell the tale.

Christ knows this. Upon returning to Nazareth, His hometown, He had said that "A prophet is not without honor except in His hometown." Many would have seen Him grow up, maybe seen Him as no different than anyone else, and have been surprised by His sudden celebrity. Yet, He has crossed over in a boat to Nazareth again, and a crowd is following Him around because He has been feeding and healing them. There some people bring to Him a man who can not walk, expecting a healing and their friend being able to run and jump again.

Christ is always surprising. He shouldn't be expected to do what we think He should when He is who He is: the Son of God who came to earth as a baby born in a stable, laid in a manger, trained as a carpenter, and lacking a place to lay His head, and yet still God. His friends and family in Nazareth don't know this. They don't know of His authority, His power, His forgiveness, and His coming glory in death and resurrection. He knows this though and looks down on the ill man before Him and says "Your sins are forgiven." Shock goes through the crowd and anger comes from the religious authorities. "Who is this that thinks He can forgive sins? How dare He forgive him."

This is who Christ is though, He is the Forgiver. He came into the world for the purpose of forgiveness. He died on the cross to bring that forgiveness. He embodies forgiveness, looking on all with compassion and opening up hearts through His love and mercy by looking upon someone who expects something from Him and Christ gives something else. Something unexpected, but more needed than walking, or even breathing.

Is that not the way it goes for each of us? We come to Him seeking a particular thing. Maybe someone to love, a temporal blessing, or, God forbid, a parking spot. He looks down upon us and says, "Take heart. Be comforted my son. Your sins are forgiven." It surprises us because we can't believe that what we have done in our lives can be forgiven. We were not even looking for it, but He knows this and forgives us anyways. He spreads His arms wide to encircle all of humanity in His forgiveness through the cross. Even more so He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins everyday if necessary until we know and remember that all is forgiven for Christ's sake.

TW

In a word...

2011-04-20T08:10:00.002-05:00

And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” - Matthew 8:14-17

In a word He can do anything. By words He heals. By words He speaks of who He is. He embodies words. He came as the Word at the very beginning. The very nature of Him is found in what He says and what He has done recorded for us in Holy Scripture.

To the storms, "Be still. Ravage My people no more. Stop in your beatings on the hearts of men and return to the calm you had before." Man, take rest in your goings and comings for He has come for the life of the world and has gone again for what He came to do has been fulfilled.

To the sick, "Be healed. I am willing so take up your bed and walk. Have your eyes be opened to the truth that exists in Me." His healing comes to make known His goodness and His love for His people. His healing of the natural body was only a foretaste of the healing He brings at Calvary. Each of us may seek what we cannot find in the trappings of this life to heal a broken heart, but He mends these things. He puts them together in the manner they should so that we may look to Him for comfort.

To the captive, "Be free. I release you from your bonds to demons, to sin, to the slavery found in the law. Come to me for freedom and rest." He removes these things from us that keep us from Him. Because our focus always ends up being on that which might bring us to Him instead of on Him alone. Before the focus was on the numerous sacrifices and offerings. The proper ceremony for the proper time to keep us in His will. Now, unlike what we may do, God has done the proper ceremony for all time. He has done THE sacrifice, for all time. He has offered Himself in Christ, the sacrificial Lamb, for all time. To free us to love and to serve for the purpose of those things and not for what we may gain.

Free. Healed. Still. All for His sake, to fashion a people by a Word. By Christ. In like manner, "This is My body given for you....This is My blood shed for you...for your forgiveness." Looking on us with love and breaking Himself and bleeding Himself for you, for me, for all.

TW

Greater is the lesser...

2011-04-19T13:28:00.002-05:00

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. - Matthew 8:5-13

It's no wonder that Christ's name is known so widely. You can rarely find a person who does not know it. They may even be able to describe His reputation. Less likely would there be someone to bend the knee in His presence. Not often would you find one who trusts Christ and believes Him to be so holy that Jesus could not enter into their home. Would we not wish to drag Him there, show Him off to friends, have pictures taken with Him, and call the news?

Even so our faith is lacking. We don't trust or believe in His accomplished work so we need to carry Him about as a talisman to rub when times are tough. Our belief gets tested when we see events unfold which make us angry or frustrated, not knowing that they are only ripples on the surface of some deeper plan or work by God. We see one who is hurting and question the legitimacy of Christ and His ability to heal yet not realize that it is only in His will that any of us are healthy. He could speak a word and lift us up or tear us down.

His authority is matchless in this that when He screamed, "IT IS FINISHED!" all of your sin and shame were washed in His blood, cleansed through His work and drowned to the depths of the deepest ocean. You were gathered from the farthest shore and brought to Mount Calvary to be declared righteous in His sight so as to be His friends, His family, His servants. You may not believe that, but greater chances do you have in attaining a seat at the marriage supper of the Lamb, than all the ultra-religious who find solitude only in what they believe they have done. Those times where they wore Jesus on their t-shirts and rejoiced in their good works and not in THE Good Work. Greater is he who is lesser in the Kingdom.

TW

The Rock who talks...

2011-04-18T06:09:00.004-05:00

Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. - Matthew 7:24-27

First comes hearing. Hearing words of comfort and love. "Blessed are you!" Having struggled to even manage the depth of a whisper, we now hear the shouts of angels. All because of ears opened by the Healer who brings sight to the blind, freedom to the captives and Gospel to the poor.

In some way the assumption is that we cannot hear or we refuse to listen to the call of our Master pleading for us to come home to a solid foundation. A foundation built on the rock, the promise of God found in Jesus Christ as Lord who takes away sin and saves us to the uttermost. Where even when the storms come to seek and destroy what little faith we may have, we are built on the Rock who calms the seas and silences the wind.

This house that is built needs some entrenching and maintenance. Bathed in the words of Christ daily. Reminded of the promises of our freedom and the steadfast love and mercy found only in the One who has fashioned the rock for us. It needs to be constantly built up by neighbors who remind us of our Rock and Fortress. Ones who gather weekly to be served by the Lord through Word and Sacrament and to serve each other through fellowship and discipleship.

Otherwise, if we lack in these things then our pride and darkness becomes nothing more than sand which can wash away merely through a gentle rain or tears of anger and pain which refuse to be mended. A light breeze may topple the walls and cave in the roof. The basement will flood and the house will be moved to wherever the will of the owner may take it. The lack of a solid foundation can shift with tides and be swayed by various winds of doctrine and teaching which can leave us even farther from the voice of the One calling our name.

The house we build need not be a mansion. It doesn't necessarily have to have 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Lose the garage because you would only be tempted to look for something else. No. A shack by the river of life that flows from His throne would be nice. One overlooking the Temple not built by hands which was torn down, but rose again in three days.

TW

Fruit tree does as a fruit tree is...

2011-04-17T11:45:00.003-05:00

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’- Matthew 7:15-23

Trees bear their fruit. You cannot find an apple tree and expect apricots. You cannot find a cactus and tell it to bring forth peaches. It will bear it's needles, which can dig into our skin, bring pain and irritation even to the point of an infection which can spread and bring a disease which leads to death. This will often place our eyes on the avoidance of these spines instead of the Physician.

If you wish to feed off those apple trees, you need not command it to produce fruit for that is what it does. A follower of Christ, one who has been redeemed bears good fruit. In everything done it is done for His glory, it is done in service to Him and the neighbor. Their contribution is one of building up the church, feeding the hungry and soothing the sick. They are friends to those both inside and out. They do these things not because they must but because this is what they do. It is part of their nature now.

They have been grafted in by their Creator. Woven together by a crown of thorns and tied to this love by a burden borne for them in a cross dragged to Calvary. They do not need to seek out these works for the wounded and sick will see their light and come running. Their is no trusting in what they have done, are doing, or will do, but in the One who has done all for them. Those who keep tally of their righteousness are no more than flattering tongues who seek out things to do in His Name but have no trust in the Name, a God who saves. For a Lord has servants who serve in whatever way they are gifted, at whatever time they are asked, wherever their roots, wherever the Tender has planted them there they will serve Him.

TW

A fork in the road...

2011-04-15T16:08:00.005-05:00

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. - Matthew 7:13-14

There is always a fork in the road. There is always a decision to be made. What shoes? What shirt? What color? What way? One road is harder to find. To seek it there is a guide, a map that shines all on its own from a cross well worn. Unfortunately this way can be hidden because we never look for it.

Another way is easy to find. Follow the line. This is good advice in many things, but not here. In this way you find a road well-trodden and a line made up of so many faces, waiting for "mystery stew," not knowing that it is so much slop. Some decide to turn around but the hunger pains return and so they retake their place or move to the back.

The hard found way is one of perspiration, perseverance, and maybe even persecution. It is one, though, without a line. One met by a Son, an unlikely Savior, clothed in glory giving robes to each pilgrim. These robes are marked with a scarlet letter, but not in a bad way. The pigment comes from a fountain that flows from hands and feet, brow and side by which this Savior died for you. This Savior of mine, this Son, stands at the crossroads calling to each, "Come those thirsty and thirst no more. Hunger for nothing as the Bread from Heaven has come to you." Most pass by not knowing that the line is gone cause all have been satisfied. The demands, the desires and decay of this life have been lost and removed for the sake of Him. There is no turning back on this way. A way to a hill called Calvary where choice is now gone and drowned. Not in a bad way but in a good way. Because in this Savior, this Son, this Christ called Jesus, there is only Him.

TW

Never judge the Gospel...

2011-04-15T07:43:00.002-05:00

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. - Matthew 7:1-5

Judgement is my deserved fate. In it I find solace knowing that my God is holy and just. In judgement I can understand my own fate apart from Christ. It was there on the cross that God opened the flood gates of all His anger upon Himself in His love to rescue me from the depths of my own sin.

It is all these reasons why judgement is not to be something that I must do. The manner in which I judge my brothers and sisters based on the sin I perceive is that manner in which I must and shall be judged. When I see the speck in my brother's eye, what I see, even if it is a sin, is only the surface. It is only skin deep. But I come to judge them and this perception with my own pile of iniquities down to the very core of a heart that deceives myself into believing I am better than my brother. How can I judge one who has been made in the likeness of God? How can I judge my brother or sister who has been bought, redeemed by the blood of Jesus? James says exactly this:

The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? - James 4:11-12

When I judge my neighbor, I judge the very law that condemns me. I judge the Giver of the law who is the only judge. I judge the blood of Christ as unprofitable to my neighbor. If they are part of the Body of Christ, I then judge the Gospel as though it is a lie. If it is to be something true then it must be true in everything. I must come to my neighbor with the Gospel. I must come knowing that they are as weak as I and that their speck could never be as big as my log. I also must come knowing that my Savior is so big that He has not only taken away my log and purchased me with His body on that cross, but He has done the same for those I may have judged. It is only in my judgement that I deny all of this.

TW

Seek He first...

2011-04-14T08:26:00.003-05:00

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. - Matthew 6:25-34

As a Christian I must be focused on the Christ if I am to follow Him. In the last post, we heard how so-called "treasures" in this life often overshadow our only Treasure that does not decay or disappear. This passage is an extension of the one before in such a way as Christ was anticipating a question: "If we do not focus on things of this world, treasures in this life, what are we supposed to do to keep ourselves clothed and fed?"

The clincher is the verse highlighted above found in the phrase, "Seek first the Kingdom." The more we focus on His Kingdom, on the ways of it's goings and comings, the splendor of it's courtyards and castles, and the grandeur of it's King, our minds then find less pleasure in the earthly likenesses which fade. This is much like the former passage and post. But in the first the focus is the actual capture and service of our Treasure, while this passage is more on the contentment found in it.

Christ is speaking on this idea of being happy with what we have. When we place our minds and hearts on God and His work, on His Son and His work, then the desires of this world actually change. Our mindset changes with the workings of Christ and we see the frailty in all that the world holds dear. As St. Paul wrote to Timothy:

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. - 1 Timothy 6:6-9

When we are content with what we have, not as some special formula but as a result of the working of the Spirit in our sanctification, we lose the desire to run after the world and instead run after Christ. Loss becomes less of a tragedy. The need for the latest and greatest becomes trivial. This is a better understanding here than in thinking that if we seek the Kingdom God will give us stuff. Christ is not saying that. Instead of being anxious about many things, we leave our anxieties at the cross and live to find all that we have in Christ. Just as God cares for His creation at all levels, He will also care for His family. He may not provide us with a T-bone and a nice Syrah, but we will lack nothing in Christ. Even if we lose our lives, we will awaken to see His face and walk by His side.

TW

Rotten rags and royal robes...

2011-04-14T07:31:00.003-05:00

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also....No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. - Matthew 6:19-24

Recently the news has been reporting on hundreds of safes that have washed up all over Japan. It appears that when a tsunami, caused by one of the worst earthquakes in history, came rushing through towns and villages, it swept away these riches that were stored in safes meant to keep them safe. In some ways it is a cultural novelty, but in others it paints a brilliant picture of what Christ is speaking on here.

When we receive a treasure, something expensive or even priceless, we not only have to deal with its possession, but also have to protect it. We buy insurance and warranties, place it in a special container like a safe deposit box, then worry about if someone is going to steal it or if it will get broken. Or it could be a stock in a retirement plan. We buy it at one level and then spend every day waking up to see how the market is doing. If it goes down in value we then become consumed by it and watch it even more or try to change it, growing our despair through greed and covetousness.

Our lives and bodies can be that treasure. Whole industries are designed around the attempt to stay decay, disease and death (all the symptoms of the fall) if just for a little while. The new altars become the make-up aisle at Macy's and the plastic surgeon. Even so, all get sick and die. We never can live forever in this world.

These earthly treasures, even if we place them in safes and guard them, devote ourselves to them, and give everything we have to their care, will be lost eventually. Even worse they take our minds and hearts off our only true treasure, Christ. In Christ we find forgiveness and freedom from all the labors and gold of this life in knowing that in the next all will be equal. For death is the great leveler. A dead king is no different than a dead slave. Both are compost. If we keep this in mind, then the Creator can never be overshadowed by the creation. His gift of salvation, where He went to the cross in our place and took even our covetousness and greed upon Himself to die for us and free us from them, becomes even sweeter in giving us the joy of being able to experience the good things of this life while not making them about this life. Even robes of gold made by gifted hands here on earth are rotten rags in comparison to the royal robes of Christ that are soaked in His blood and make us clean.

TW

A secret praying people...

2011-04-12T07:25:00.002-05:00

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him....And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. - Matthew 6:5-18

"When you pray." As God's people we are to be a praying people. It is in prayer that we speak with God. It is in prayer that we make known our weaknesses, praise His Name, and seek comfort in His promises. Prayer, in many ways, is the truest form of worship because it has nothing behind it except our heart and soul. God knows what we need and what we are going to say, but by voicing it we are paying Him honor by trusting in His power to care for us in His will.

In the same manner we are to be a secret praying people. This does not mean we never pray in public, but it means that we should not pray in order to bring attention to our own holiness, or pray just for the purposes of praying (heaping up empty phrases). I have come across many people who have no problem in making known their own purity. They talk always about the four Bible studies they go to and do evangelistic prayers in the middle of McDonald's. If I am talking about you, I apologize, but is it not true? Is there much difference between these things and the "hypocrites" Christ speaks of who shout their prayers from the roof tops and carry around signs screaming "I AM FASTING! LOOK HOW MISERABLE I CAN BE!"?

In prayer we also come to God to seek forgiveness. It is usually at our lowest that we finally come before the altar of grace and plead for the blood of Christ to cover us. It is there that we can feel the peace and love of God as we obediently confess our sins and know that we have a Mediator, Jesus Christ, who brings us forgiveness through His sacrifice. It is in prayer that we can also voice our deepest thoughts, our anger, our disagreement with God, and through this find solace in that He will open our eyes and direct us back towards His Son.

TW

Ordinary means good...

2011-04-11T08:19:00.005-05:00

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. - Matthew 6:1-4

Within the Sermon on the Mount, Christ's first recorded extended sermon, there are essentially three parts. He first speaks on the blessings we receive from God through Christ (the Beatitudes). The second tells us of how we have faltered in gaining favor towards God and gives us the proper interpretation of the law. The third shows us how the new Kingdom will work in relation to how Christ-followers should/will relate to one another. These are not cemented partitions but pockets of understanding within the sermon as a whole. In Matthew 6 we have a transition period between parts 2 & 3 where Christ is beginning to speak on how we are to minister to one another, and come before God, but in the manner which God has called good.

Here Christ turns everything around, first by taking any earthly praise out good works, but also making it clear that in many respects what we do as good works quite often are unknown by us. "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." In many ways it becomes second nature and is filled with things we think are not good works. We see it today where it is expected that Christians should be feeding the poor, going on missions trips, spending a week in India, and being at church every night volunteering for everything. What if this causes you to neglect your job and income, or your family where you are to be first?

You go to any church these days and you will see men volunteering for things, teaching classes, and doing good works, but they are absent fathers. They are not teaching their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. They are absent husbands and neglecting their wives and their commitment they made in marriage. It is so beyond our comprehension to think that being good dads and husbands, good moms and wives, are good works. But these are things "done in secret" are they not? When we are feeding our kids, clothing them, giving them a place to sleep, loving our wives and caring for them, and teaching our children, we are doing great works because if we did not they would be starving, naked, cold, homeless, and not knowing of Christ and redemption. When we pass on our faith to the next generation and tell of all that Christ has done for us, we create a Godly legacy with which Christ honors as He does all children who come to Him.

All things done in faith, not done in pride, are good works. For in the same way Christ died and took on our sin in a manner that He died a death on a cross that appeared as similar to one that many had died before. It looked the same as the thieves who died with Him, but His was unique and will never be done again. He made known to His disciples all that would happen but they did not know until after He had risen from the dead. His death and burial looked normal and indifferent from any other. But it was and is in the ordinary where God works most. A child born in a barn, that needed to be fed, grew up as a carpenter, died a sinners death to free all who believe from their sins. It is not in the extraordinary for which we please God, He does not need our extraordinary, but in Him we find satisfaction in the ordinary and work through the ordinary and the hidden to do the most good.

TW

Love those He loves...

2011-04-10T06:14:00.002-05:00

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. - Matthew 5:43-48

As we saw in Christ's correct interpretation of the law it is not just an outward life of holiness, but an inward commitment towards God and His expectations of us and our relationship to Him and our neighbor. He expounds also on adultery, divorce and other commands, but here Christ turns things on their head again by calling us out from the normal way of the world. It is normal for for humanity to play favorites. It is in our fallen nature to have friends and enemies. To have those for whom we favor and those for whom we disdain. We see even today where Christianity in America is so caught up in politics that you can hear from the pulpit on any given Sunday one pastor slamming another for a particular view on a political issue. We even have Christians in this country disparaging the name of our President, whose authority is given to him by God, because they disagree with him on so many things.

None of these are Christian virtues according to Jesus. Jesus says, regardless of our political stance, or our place in society, or the color of our skin, or the religious affiliation of our enemies, we are to love and honor them. Why? Because God does. He gives the same earthly benefits to both our friends and our enemies. He grows crops and shines the sun on those we love and those we hate. He also sent His Son to die for those we love and those we hate. So why should we, in any manner, hate, talk poorly about, ridicule, or put-down those for whom we disagree, or are even at war with, when they are a soul for which Christ died?

This is where culture gets in the way of Christ. Since America is a free country, and each individual has freedom of speech, we allow for these freedoms to get in the way of our Christian virtues. Even if we are allowed to say what we want, we should not. It should be a challenge for us, and more often than not we will fail, to love all of those around us. Even those who persecute us. Who hate us so vehemently that we may suffer loss of possessions of life itself. For in like manner our Lord loved His enemies, us, so much that He gave up all He had to come to earth, to die a death that we deserved, to cleanse us from our sins and to bring us into His rest. With that He reconciled us to the Father and made us a new creation in Him. So as His church, and as His Body, we must live for Him and love for Him. For in so doing we will be caring for, and loving those for whom He has died. But when we fail to do so, which we will, He still loves us and covers us with His blood.

TW

Anger as motive...

2011-04-09T08:57:00.003-05:00

You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. - Matthew 5:21-26

With God, especially after Calvary, favor cannot be earned by anything we do outwardly, but condemnation comes from what we do inwardly. Outward signs of some perceived holiness, as with the religious leaders of Christ's day, can paint so many pictures of all the things we are doing that make US so good. When in fact what matters more is in the heart of man where deceit and sin crouch waiting to pounce on anyone and everyone.

As with murder, which is prohibited by the 6th commandment (or the 5th depending on your numbering system), the law is shrunk down to its bare bones to where its motive (that is premeditated murder) is found. It is in anger that most murders are committed. Anger can have many causes, but unless you are a sociopath, anger unchecked can lead to murder. Christ here makes that point. He makes it clear that the expectations are not just a refraining from the actual act, but a condemnation on even the thought of such things. "Murder in the heart" as some have said. Yet these sins, these things that bring us judgement and harm our neighbor by creating evil thoughts and desires in our souls which can plague us for years and destroy our relationships and impair our ability to minister to them through the Gospel, have been covered and washed by the blood of Christ. Even when He was faced with brutal persecution at the hands of the Council:

Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?” - Matthew 26:67-68

He stood His ground and took it for our sakes. He did not fight back but accepted as part of His sacrifice, suffering under anger and pain, in order to bring His people to Himself.

He also lacked retaliation before Pilate and made no defense for Himself:

Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. - Matthew 27:13-14

He did this knowing that He could have fought and been victorious. He could have called down legions of angels to destroy all of humanity, but he did not. He took the unwarranted judgement from men who had no standing but anger based on pride and their lack of understanding, in order that we might be free from the burden of sin. We were given a washing purer than snow after Christ accepted all the battering and pain we deserved.

In like manner it was not just the Pharisees who struck Him but I as well. For my sins of anger and rage, murder in the heart, He bore my cross to take my pain and shame upon Himself. He, like we are called to do, made reconciliation for us through the altar and offering of His body in order that we might be at peace with the Father and with Him. Because of this He asks for us to worship, not in our vanity, but through right relationships with each other before the Father. Making sure that we are reconciled with each other before we partake in the Body of Christ. In such a way we then give honor to Him and His sacrifice by being reconciled with God and one another, and not bring dishonor to the gift He has given us by valuing a tradition over love.

TW

Our Righteousness...

2011-04-08T09:16:00.002-05:00

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-20

So far we have seen what blessings have come to us through Christ and how we, as His children, will impact the world as His distinct disciples. Here we have Christ making known both to the righteous and the sinner the extent of His gift He brings through His body and blood, but also the true expectations and spirit of the law which the Pharisees thought they adhered to correctly.

It is in Christ that we find fulfillment of the entire Old Testament. It was He, as the promised seed of Abraham, that all the world is blessed through the forgiveness found in His death and resurrection. It is in Him that we see the sacrificial animal, without blemish, who atoned for the sins of His people, just as prescribed in Leviticus. It is in His bloody sacrifice that we are forgiven. It is Him as the suffering servant of Isaiah that we are told of the scope of His death that covers all our sins and iniquities. He is the Son of David who will sit on the throne forever as our King.

Yet in all of this the law and teachings remain. Since it is in the law that we become aware of our sinful condition, and that it is the law, as the mirror to our souls, that drives us to Calvary. These will not pass away until He comes again to judge the living and the dead. Ones still alive at His coming and ones who have died. Ones given life through His blood, and others still dead in His trespasses and sins.

In like manner there is a fine line between antinomianism and Christ. In Christ we have been freed from our debts to the law, and will not be condemned for He has become our righteousness. In the same manner He reminds us that the nature of the Christian is one who yearns to follow and love his Savior and obey Him. As Paul says, "all things are permissible but not all are profitable". If Christ is proclaimed properly one can come to the decision that they can do whatever they want, but what is it that you want to do? If you have been redeemed and brought out of bondage, do you then desire to return to your chains? By no means. A disciple will wish to live as his Master has taught, but know that when he fails His Master's death has brought him forgiveness before the Father.

We will see next how Christ elaborates the law and makes it internal more than external. He makes demands of us that our righteousness must put to shame the righteousness of the Pharisees. With the religious leaders we see great ceremony and pomp where they obey the law down to the letter. Yet, they elevate their ceremonies to such a degree that acts of mercy and forgiveness are forbidden on the Sabbath. It is in this matter, matters of the heart and the law being written on our hearts, that Christ references a higher righteousness. One that comes from the inside out. One made by the life, death and resurrection of our Lord whose love and mercy makes forgiveness for us and provides us a righteousness outside of ourselves and even in our failings.

TW

Salt for the journey, light for the Way...

2011-04-07T10:43:00.002-05:00

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. - Matthew 5:13-16

In the Beatitudes we are given a glimpse of God's work and blessings in us through Christ, and here we are called out by Him to be distinct. The is a novel concept as in today's church and world, Christians seem called to be like everyone else so we might be a good witness. Yet Christ calls us here, as His disciples, to be different.

As the salt of the earth, we are to be a preservative, something to keep the decay at bay. We are to stand for truth, grace, peace, and love in a world where truth is increasingly disdained, grace is used as a weapon, peace is rarely seen as more than a aversion to risk, and love is replaced by tolerance. In the same way, as Lenski says, a saltless Christianity creates more unbelievers than all the pagan practices put together. It is this "saltless" (dare I say "Christ-less") Christianity that creates a moralistic deism based on neo-Pharisaical legalism than on Christ and His cross. These are those "hypocrites" that the world sees so often and equates with the church. Instead we must be a medicine, a salve if you will. One that not only tells the truth of our failures and our continuously fallen condition, but one that points toward the Lamb who has made forgiveness for us. Towards the One who has borne our iniquities so that we might be His children. The One who has created the salt which has a saltiness that may never fail.

As the light we are ones who have been given a faith outside of ourselves, lit by Christ (THE Light of the World), who so then shine forth through our changed hearts to make known so great a Love and point to a God who deserves to be glorified because of His grace and love. In our faith are found the rays, our works, that radiate from the Author and Finisher of this faith, Jesus Christ, so as to shine in the darkness and make a way for the blind that they might come to see. Here they see our devotion to the Savior, our desire to hear His voice and to call on Him, our way of love and forgiveness that can only be found in those who have been loved and forgiven much, and our selflessness which so flies in the face of depraved humanity.

With this light we also are a city on a hill that can be seen for miles. It is there, as an embodiment of the city of refuge, we have the message and point the way to the One who provides shelter and peace for those who seek it.

With our light and saltiness, we hold distinctives which set us apart from not only other religions, but from other people period. Even within the church itself, there can be seen a division between those who are followers of the Way and those who are playing in the ditch. For just as an unwanted light would never have been lit, one who calls themselves a Christian but never shows evidence and walks in contradiction to their calling as a disciple should be assumed to never have come into contact with the Savior. They thence need to hear the Gospel again and be reminded of the sacrifice which saved them and the baptism that sealed them. In Christ we can be assured of our sins being forgiven, and we can have certainty that He will keep us in the light and rescue us if we find ourselves falling into darkness where we once walked.

TW

Blessing us for things we have not...

2011-04-06T08:27:00.002-05:00

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." - Matthew 5:3-12

I could possibly spend the next year digging into this passage of Scripture. Whole books have been written on them. In the Beatitudes we have Christ giving His first recorded public sermon to a captive audience. With that He upsets the entire society. He comes to a people who are so fragmented between the "holy" and the "sinner", between the "clean" and the "dirty". All of these divisions stemmed from things that were done or were not done. The Pharisees would obey every letter of the law in the Torah plus their traditions that had come down through the centuries, while the "sinners" were ones who lived lives outside of these expectations. Yet Christ comes and turns everything around and makes everything internal, not external.

Speaking to a crowd most likely made up of prostitutes, thieves, murderers, the worst of society at that time (plus the religious establishment), He opens up to them with the benediction first. Quite often a pastor ends the service with a blessing or a benediction before dismissing people from the service. Here it is as though Christ is dismissing them from their former lives, their former brokenness and heartache into the new creation which His blood will provide. He then offers to them, not descriptive characteristics of what a Christian looks like, but words of peace and rest to those that find themselves in that position.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Those who are heavy laden with sin and brought low by the lack of mercy and peace offered by society. For those who have been brought low by their own sinful condition, Christ comes and opens the Kingdom of Heaven to them. In the same way, just as His baptism was identifying with sinful man, so Christ becomes low in stature and walks with those in the same manner, so much so that He dies the death of a criminal and outcast, an unjust conviction, in order to release us from the prison of our sin and bring us into His Kingdom.

Blessed are those who mourn. Those who mourn over their sin, who mourn over the lowliness of their spirits and mourn over all the things they have done or said to hurt themselves and others, who mourn over their defiling of God's law, for they will find comfort in His promises. They will be blessed by God through Christ for mourning over sin is a sign of contrition and repentance where Christ comes, lifts us up and covers us in His blood.

Blessed are the meek. Those who are gentle, not overbearing, not self-seeking, but humble and, again, lowly, for they will inherit the earth. They tend to be the ones who are overrun and trampled by the assertive, but the meek will be welcomed into the new Heaven and new Earth. All on account of the Christ, who was meek and lowly even to the point of not defending Himself before the magistrates, but going freely to a death we deserve in order that we might be with Him.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. These being those who lack righteousness. If you hunger or thirst for something, you do not have it and want it more than anything. It is the focus of your life in that you need it to sustain you or you will die. We are satisfied in that Christ has become righteousness for us in that while we were, and still are sinners, Christ poured out His blood on the cross to pay the debt for our sin, and rose again to make that sacrifice complete and cover us in a righteousness apart from ourselves. So much so that we do not have to spend our lives trying to make ourselves righteous but have trust in that Christ has done it for us and brought that satisfaction.

Blessed are the merciful. Those who give mercy to others quite often are seeking it themselves, or they do so because they have received mercy when they deserved condemnation. We likewise will continue to be merciful to others because we have received mercy for Christ's sake.

Blessed are the pure in heart. Those whose hearts are pure, that seek mercy and righteousness for they know they lack it, they will then see God. This is not a purity we create for ourselves, but is pure in that we know our hearts and do not live in one way while having hearts that direct us somewhere else. Instead of being Pharisees where on the outside we are as pure as snow but inside we are completely putrid and dead, we will seek to live lives in which purity of heart is more important. For in Christ, we have new hearts and new desires because He has washed us and taken away our stony hearts and given us each a heart of flesh that yearns for Him because of the purity He has become on our behalf.

Blessed are the peacemakers. Those who promote peace and rest, seek not division or battle over obscurities, but rely on and give peace to all they come in contact with will be called sons/daughters of God and be granted peace. It is these children of God who have received the peace that Christ provides to bridge the divide between us and God by paying our price for redemption. In this peace is where we find rest and enter into that rest in the promise that God has given in His forgiveness.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. As Christ makes know in verses 11 & 12, think of the prophets of the Old Testament, of John the Baptist, of the Apostles, and fellow Christians around the world, or even of Christ Himself. Persecuted brought down because of a righteousness they seek and keep always before them. Christ, who on account of His desire to provide us with a righteousness that covers our sin, and one found apart from what the religious establishment considered holy, was persecuted, murdered, and buried on account of our unrighteousness, and rose to put all that behind us. It is this alien righteousness which grants us the keys to the Kingdom.

In each of these blessings, it is not on account of the fact that we are these things so He gives us blessings, but that He became each of these for us so that we can then receive the rewards He grants. He became low, meek, seeked righteousness and God above all things, was merciful, pure in heart, embodied peace, was persecuted for the sake of Himself, all to bring us into the Kingdom, to comfort us, grant us an inheritance, satisfy us in Himself, to give us mercy when we deserved none, to open our eyes to see God, and to call us brothers and sisters as children of the Father. All these things we could not do in ourselves and so He brings these blessings in Himself in order that we might receive them based on a sacrifice made for us on a hill one afternoon outside of Jerusalem. For God is our Provider in so much that we lack something He desires, and so unlike other religions that expect more, He gives us what we lack in order to bring us to Himself. For our God grants us these blessings to remind us of His mercy and steadfast love found in Christ.

TW

Three ways to know He is good...

2011-04-05T07:32:00.003-05:00

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand....And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. - Matthew 4:17, 23

Following His temptation in the desert, where He tasted temptation on our behalf so as to fulfill all of His humanity, Christ begins His earthly ministry with a call for repentance and an announcement that the Kingdom of Heaven has come to man. This was done in that the King of Heaven has come to gather His people to Himself. In so doing, He modeled a style of ministry for us that many Christians, and especially pastors, have let slip away. It is threefold: preaching, teaching, and healing.

First, in His preaching, Christ proclaims to all who hear the Good News of the Gospel and the great differences between the earthly realm and the Kingdom of Heaven. It is hear where, as Christians, and especially pastors, we do our most important work. We proclaim the Gospel that is found only in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord. In that while we were still dead in our trespasses and deserved nothing from God, He chose to humble Himself and to come down to us, fulfilled all the requirements of the law, was nailed to a Cross for us as sinners, bled to cover all our sins, died to pay our debt to the law, and rose again so that we might stand before God as righteous in His sight. Not because of anything we have done but because of the righteousness we have in Him. These things are hardly ever preached anymore. Instead preaching has become a swear word and a negative thing because it has become a time in church where pastors tell us about all that we have done wrong and what we need to do to do it different. This is not what Christ does, but He comes proclaiming forgiveness for sins and a rest from all our burdens. It is no wonder then that people sleep through sermons.

Secondly, He comes teaching. Here it made known the meanings of the Scriptures to better know Him and better understand the grace and glory of God. It is here that there is a great confusion within our churches. Going off point one, most sermons become 45 minute lectures of bible study, which is not bad in itself but is not proclamation of the Gospel. In teaching is where we can study and understand the Bible better. We can use it as a chance to answer questions of the believing and non-believing. We can use it as a time to understand what a Christian looks like and what impact Christ forgiveness has upon our everyday lives. But the two, preaching and teaching, are separate. We should not preach when we teach but allow for those we are teaching to learn and ask questions so they are better able to understand more fully the love and grace of Christ. We can teach when we preach, but that teaching (i.e. parsing Greek, historical analysis, etc.) can bog us down in the pulpit when we must be pointing people to the Cross and preparing them for the Lord's Table. For it is Christ that we have to offer and so all our activities, both preaching and teaching must culminate in Him, but one is direct proclamation of His work, while the other is a deeper explanation of it and it's impact.

Lastly, He came healing. Here is the most neglected of Gospel applications. Christ came as the Order-maker. He came to put order back into our chaos. Since our fall into sin, sickness, decay and death have come into the world. He came to change this for us. He came healing all diseases and all those who would come. Regardless of their response to the healing. You see this in the lepers where the overwhelming majority never returned to Him but went about their day. In the same manner, we encounter many people suffering from illness, decay and, finally, death. We, in our humanity cannot stop these things. No matter how hard we try through make-up, botox, vitamins, organic foods, and plastic surgery, we all eventually get sick, fall apart and die. We cannot heal the body from this affliction for it is part of our sinfulness. It is our temporal due. Yet, in Christ we have healing for our souls. We have one who opens our eyes to His goodness, bring us out of our poverty through His Gospel, break our bonds of slavery to sin to serve the Living God, and proclaims to us that, instead of us serving a God who demands our sacrifices and service in order to gain His favor, He places His favor upon us because of His Son through His grace (unmerited favor).

It is here in this threefold ministry that, as Christians, we fulfill the pastoral offices of preacher, teacher, and pastoral care-giver. It is all centered on the Word and work of Christ because it is all we have to offer. This is why it is important for Holy Communion to be a culmination of our weekly services. For there we have God feeding us with His body and blood. It is there that Christ incarnates again, on our behalf, and proclaims most simply His Good News: "My body given for you", "My blood shed for you". Even if we fail to properly proclaim Christ and the Gospel from the pulpit, fail to teach and explain it more fully in our studies, we still have the healing found at His table. For it is His table and He brings Himself to us there and bids us come and taste and see that He is good.

TW

Immediacy and security in His glory...

2011-04-04T08:15:00.003-05:00

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. - Matthew 4:1-11

Here in chapter 4 of Matthew the types and shadows of the Old Testament begin to clear up for those of us who live here in the New. Christ has left His baptism and has begun to wander in the wilderness where He is gone for 40 days and nights. Does this sound familiar? How about the wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus? Here Christ is fulfilling all things that we cannot, including fighting temptations that all of us would crumble under if we faced them today.

First, He was hungry. You would be too if you had gone so long without eating. The devil knows this and comes to Christ and tempts Him with immediacy. Have you ever come into your house after a long day of labor and uttered the words "I am starving"? This in itself is ridiculous as starvation would be what children in Haiti are going through right now. Most of us will never know starvation. In the same way we have the Israelites wandering in the desert and they are starving and complain to Moses. So Moses goes to the Lord and God grants them food from Heaven in the form of manna. This food was something they had never had before, they had no labor involved other than to gather it, and even then each received their due, "whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat." (Exodus 16:18)

Also the Lord sent meat, after they complained. So much so that quail were flying at eye level and all they had to do was grab them. (Numbers 11) The immediate need of these people was fulfilled, even though they had the immediacy of the Lord to sustain them they still grumbled. Christ here refuses the same temptation and takes the stance for which God's people most often fail. We always want what we want and want it now. Christ says no, for the nearness of God, the nearness of Christ found on the cross for our sins is sufficient for all our needs.

Interesting also to see how Christ, the Incarnate Word, looks at the devil and says, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." Bread of which each Lord's day we take and eat, where we are reminded of and receive forgiveness in Christ's body broken for us. Again also He speaks of "the word" out of the mouth of God. That being Himself, the Word, the Logos, that comes to speak to us and for us and brings us the good news of redemption.

Secondly, Christ is faced with a temptation of security. The devil tempts Him with the notion that He could jump from the Temple and the Father would save Him. Or, in another way, even if He were to fall and die He could rise. But for all of us we want security. We wish to know that all will be alright. That we will not lose anything we have or that if we lose anything we will get it back. In Christ, He stands as that security. He stood on the Temple, the place where His name dwells, the place where the curtain was to be torn and its relevance would fade, and remains faithful to His coming promise of security and life only found in His death and resurrection. He would not put God to the test because His purpose was to fulfill the promises given by God to the promised seed of Abraham.

We again can see similar temptations there in the Exodus. The Israelites come to the culmination of their journey and are preparing to enter into the rest God provides in the Promised Land. The spies come back telling of the fruits of the land and carrying a giant vine of grapes between them. Yet the people do not trust in the power of a God who led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and gave them bread from Heaven and quail to eat with out cost. They fear the destruction they will have at the hands of the people of Canaan and turn away from the fruit of the vine and the rest that will be given to them. Yet, even in this fear of loss of security and possible pain, God fulfills His former promises by coming to earth as Christ and shedding His blood for us so that we might have righteousness apart from ourselves and peace and security in His Word and Blood. Even if the Israelites could not see the joys in the fruit of the vine so great and precious, we can be reminded each Lord's day as we take of the cup ("This cup is a New Covenant in My blood") and drink of His blood shed for your sins and mine. We then can remember that regardless of our failings we can be secure in the knowledge that He stands for us and covers us in His blood for our salvation.

Lastly we see Christ tempted with earthly glory. A glory He already had, and a glory that was to pale in comparison to that which culminated on the cross and the empty tomb. For this is what the devil's goal is to remove our eyes from that which saves and have us place our minds and hearts on the glory of things that perish. In the desert the Israelites turned so quickly from the salvation provided to them by God and turned to a facsimile in the form of a golden calf they constructed. Even once they entered into the Land of the Promise they turned from the God who defeated their enemies and began to worship the god's of those whom their God, the one true and living God, destroyed.

We so often do the same. We have One who has taken our pain, shame, and sin upon Himself so that we may stand before the Lord, through all eternity, blameless. We have One who said "It is finished!", tore the curtain which kept us in bondage to dead works so that we might serve God without the fear of trying to gain His favor. Gods' favor was won on the cross, purchased by His own blood and He is now glorified so that we may take part in His kingdom and have no need to trust in our own works to gain some reward which is only a fake idol of the truth. We also have no need to worship and trust at the altar of that which does not save (i.e. the law) but worship and trust in the preciousness of the treasure of His good news. Regardless of our temptations we can be assured of the immediacy of our forgiveness, the security of our salvation, and the glory that is due Him because of His righteousness He provides for us.

TW

Old made new...

2011-04-03T11:25:00.004-05:00

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”...Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins....he said to them,...Bear fruit in keeping with repentance....“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”...Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” - Matthew 3:1-15

Much of this passage would be familiar to all my brothers and sisters for in it we find many preachers proclaiming fire and brimstone to attempt a conversion of souls. We also find here a common lesson from the Advent season in many of our mainline churches. Much of the emphasis is placed on the exclamations by John about Christ coming with His winnowing fork in hand. However, this chapter in Matthew is an important passage in the whole flow of Scripture. It is here that we see the culmination of the Old Covenant. The Old Testament was a grand production of setting up through prophets and kings, the coming of THE Prophet and King, Jesus Christ. The one who is the Word, formerly conveyed by prophets of old through proclamation, now incarnate in the flesh of humanity to remove sin and death forever and to rule over, through, and with us in eternity.

Many pastors skip over the announcement of John the Baptist in order to move straight to his message. It is important that before we try to apply his message though, we must understand who he is and his purpose. For in John we have the last of the Old Testament prophets. He comes to "prepare the way" by preaching a message of repentance with a covenant application. He proclaims to all who would hear that they must repent and bear fruit in keeping with repentance. If read in it's entirety you see he proclaims to one group, presumably sinners, this repentance which led to confession and baptism as forms of a temporary new covenant between the hearers and God. While to the religious leaders of the day you have him ridiculing them for not practicing true repentance but sitting on the knowledge that by birth they are children of God. John then makes his purpose known by announcing that One mightier than he is to come with even greater glory and power.

John's baptism and ministry was one of repentance to prepare the hearts of man for reception of the Incarnate Gospel who was to come. This Gospel, this Word, our Christ, will come with power in the Spirit and fire, one to guide us into truth, the other to continually purify us along the way. It is there that His winnowing fork will bring to completion His work where the wheat and the chaff will be separated. One will be burned and the other gathered. Some would end here and ask a question like "Which one are you?" The reality is that this is not what we must be left with for the chapter does not end here but with Christ's baptism. There Christ is met by John who wishes to refuse Him this one act. An act unnecessary for Christ to do. One that has always puzzled even I.

Why would the pure God, made flesh for our sake and sent to die for us, need to be baptized with a baptism of repentance? It was done in order to fulfill His substitutionary life and death. In it the One who was to be tempted and tried in every way and never to have sinned was to be baptized for repentance so that He might have fulfilled every part of His ministry and sinless life. Not only was He to know every temptation as we could know, but He identified with us even in baptism and making clear this new life He was to give to us in His death and resurrection.

When we are baptized it is customary for the words to be proclaimed that we are buried with Christ in baptism and raised to newness of life. In Christ's baptism we are shown the end of the Old Covenant where acts of contrition and gaining favor with God were put away and now the New has come where the one act of contrition and gaining favor was to take place. Christ went into the water and came up with God pronouncing Him as His Son in Whom He was well pleased. At that moment forth we enter into the new covenant and there begins Christ's ministry (in it from birth He was to do) which was bent on one solitary declaration, "The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!" For in fulfilling all righteousness, He then becomes THE righteousness for us so that we might be with Him. He not only takes on our sin but shows forth our coming repentance and our new life which will be with Him through His promise, His Word, and His Baptism. In these we find comfort and in these we can then be unconcerned over whether we are wheat of chaff, or whether we please God or not. For in Him God is eternally pleased so that we will never again have to try and please Him in ourselves.

TW

Do anything for nothing...

2011-04-02T08:41:00.003-05:00

...behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled,...Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under,...Herod died. - Matthew 2:1-19

Here in this lesson we find something interesting. King Herod, a powerful man who ruled over much was placed into great fear by a baby. Not only a baby, but a baby for which he most likely believe was from mythology. You find that he had to seek out the guidance of teachers to find out if what was said of the child was true or not. There is no evidence that Herod was a devout man. He only had fear to guide him. Fear over the loss of a throne that was more gifted to him by Caesar than one for which he had divine right.

Secondly, we see that this fear that he had drove him to such madness that he saw no recourse but to kill the innocents in order to try and put an end to his fear. He had no way of knowing whether the act he was to take would culminate in his intended goal, but he carried it out anyways in order to secure his future. In many ways he feared the loss of his present situation more than anything else.

Lastly, he died. He had no way to defeat death. He could have killed every male child of similar age as Christ and it still would not save him from death. The good news however is that we have One who defeated sin, death and the devil. One who died on our behalf so that even after the culmination of our mortality, our soul will retain an immortality which will be, and is, a new creation in Christ. Regardless of all we can do in this life to better it or to worsen it, Christ remains the same. He remains as our salvation from our sin to bring us into right standing before God, in such a manner that we shall not fear death or the loss of our earthly place.

So often, when faced with issues of death and dying or the loss of material things, we try to do everything in our power to retain them. So much so that it made lead us to madness. Open your eyes and see all the people with huge amounts of wealth in this world and they are unhappy. Some so much that they become paranoid that they will lose some or all of it. Yet, in Christ we have a gift for which we cannot toil for or slave after. It is something we cannot earn or work towards. When from the cross, in a loud voice, He cried "IT IS FINISHED!" and the whole earth shook, bodies were raised and the curtain was torn, our very souls were captured to Him. He redeemed us despite our frailties, and even when we sin and seek things other than Him, He is there saying "Come to Me all you who are thirsty. Drink of My blood, be washed clean, and thirst no more." In this there is no fear of death or loss. For unlike Herod, we trust in that very Child for whom the prophets foretold.

TW

Let's see how long this will last...

2011-04-01T08:04:00.004-05:00

"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us). - Matthew 1:21-23

Over the course of the past week or more I have been working my way through the Gospel according to Matthew. It then came to me this morning to try and take on this blog-thing again by seeing how long I can continue to write something each day on the things I have learned and been taught from this Gospel. For it is in the Gospel that Christians know who they are and where they stand in Christ, and it is the only thing the Church has to offer to humanity.

In my first entry here we begin where the Gospel begins with the foretelling of the coming Christ. Immanuel, God incarnate here with us. The infinite taking on the finite in order to redeem a people from their sins for Himself. The Almighty coming as His Word in the form of weakness as a baby born to die.

Even more so, here in Matthew 1, we should be able to solve any disagreements over why Christ came and what Christianity is about. Some say He came to teach us how to live, or to set an example for us in his death so that we might love other people better. In the times of the Bible, and for some countries today, names are given to bring meaning or description to the one so named. Here in the name of Jesus, we have proclaimed to us all we need to know of His purpose and His message. In Hebrew His name would be Yeshua or Joshua, which can mean "He saves", "He rescues", or "He delivers". Matthew expands on this by saying that Joseph and Mary will name Him Jesus (Yeshua) because "He will save His people from their sins". His name, just as in the Old Testament where God has different names for His different functions/attributes (Provider, Banner, Creator, etc.), describes Christ's function. It proclaims to us very simply what job He is to perform and what mission He has undertaken.

Here we can but rejoice that even as an unborn baby, Christ's role as a Savior was delineated to us so that there can be no confusion about who He is for us. Not only is He God coming to us when we could not come to Him, but He is God coming to us for the purpose of washing us clean. Covering us in His blood in order to wipe away all traces of our transgressions. In the same way then we can better know how to love others and how to serve based on what has been done on our behalf. For in Christ we are complete and whole again. In Christ we have been covered by His name, made a child of Him, adopted as sons and daughters, made into His people, and all of this made known by the forgiveness we have received.

TW

TreadWeary is...

2011-03-16T08:16:00.002-05:00

I think it is time that I explain myself. For quite a while now I have been doing this blog with this weird name that no one knows anything about. Because I realized this I posted the verse as the "Word of the Day" back in December that started this journey:

"The Lord has given me the tongue of those who are taught that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary...." Isaiah 50:4

It is the main expression of the message of the Gospel that Christ came to provide rest for us. He came to remove our sins that so entangle us that in the days Jesus life revolved around redemption. People went to synagogue to hear from God and went to the Temple for sacrifices to pay for sins. Society was split between the "righteous" and the "sinners". Very few words were spoken to those outside of the society so entwined with religion that it would make people who fight for separation between church and state soil themselves.

But then here comes the Christ. The Lamb of God who will save His people from their sins. In the same way Christ is Lord of the Sabbath (rest) and expresses this to us in that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2). Here our rest from the toil of this life, from the burdens of our sin and the fall, from trying to gain favor with God through using things that are His to please Him are all captured in that statement that He is the Lord of the Sabbath and that the Sabbath (rest in God) is made for us and not us for it. It is meant to give us peace and not us to try and gain that peace through even more work.

Again we find Christ bringing this rest to us as He is speaking to "sinners". Those outcasts in society who were living out "lives of sin" while the religious and more mainstream portions of society were just better at hiding theirs.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Unfortunately for years the Church has been overrun by the desire for behavior modification and works righteousness to where being a Christian has become synonymous with things you are not supposed to do than about someone who has been saved from things he can't do. It used to be that Christians were called followers of "the Way". Although it is becoming a cliche for the church, just like the word Christ-follower, understanding it as "the Way" would help us in the long run. Then you can ask, the Way to what? To rest, to peace and comfort in knowing that we are redeemed and that God's favor is now nonnegotiable.

However, we continue to find more and more leaders in the church coming up with five things we have to do for a Christian marriage, seven things we must do for financial freedom, and worse than that, a thirty day sex challenge. As though Christ said, " I have come to give you better marriages, a safer financial future, and to make you sexy." There is a reason why all these sermon series get recycled and redone in different packaging, they DON'T work. There's a reason why the self-help section at the bookstore is the largest, it doesn't work. If we could help ourselves then Christ would have never come, and if we had to continue to help ourselves after His death and resurrection then His sacrifice was of no use to us. Instead the church continues to tell us all the things we have to do to keep ourselves in His favor instead of proclaiming that we have been redeemed, the work is finished, our rest has begun, and that regardless of how many times we fail to be humble and meek, to serve and to live in self-denial, Christ blood covers us.

Christ said that He has come to seek and to save that which is lost. That He has not come for the "righteous" but to call the sinners to repentance. This is what is to be preached, this rest found in Christ who seeks and does not hide. Not preaching at, but proclaiming about. Not placing a sign up that says "No shoes, no shirt, no service", but one that says:

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Isaiah 55:1

If you are weary from treading out this life trying to do everything you can to please God, know that there is nothing you can do for yourself. That is why He came. If, however, you are looking for a place of rest from your burdens, a place of peace from your sin, a place of refuge from this life, fear not. He is willing and ready to give you rest. That is why I am who I am...TreadWeary.

TW

Way Too Long

2011-03-15T11:43:00.003-05:00

Well, it has been a while since I have posted anything here. Part of that is laziness. Part of it is lack of motivation. Part of it also could be a lack of anything to say. All of these are true and in some ways indistinguishable from each other, but I hope you won't hold that against me.

Much has happened since last posting. We have had major holidays, we have entered into the glorious time of Lent in the church calendar, I now technically weigh less than I have since I was 16 years old, I am now a congregational bureaucrat, and there are many more adventures beginning to unfold. First is an idea to do a podcast. This comes partially from the idea that my new denomination, the ELCA, is completely out of touch in this, but also my wife would then actually hear what I have to say on something and not have to read it as she rarely does which is actually a good thing (I love you Sweetie). If I were not a complete idiot when it comes to computers and technology I probably would have begun this project a long time ago. However, I have the ability to make a recording, but have no idea where to go from there. I have tried to read the directions on iTunes or at podcasting for dummies, but it's like they were written for a ten year old. I personally need directions written for a 3 year old. "Now Billy, you take the white thing and place it in the other thing here and then click the orange thingie that looks like one of daddy's pills and then...." That would be so much easier. I know at least one person out there has tried to explain these things to me, and I apologize Eric, but I am a moron.

Secondly, I finally have been bitten by the music bug again. I've written three new songs in the last 4 days, and hope to finally get things recorded in such a way to finish this album idea I have had for about 5 years. I am hoping to do all the recording myself and then I am hoping to use kickstarter.com to help finance production. I have figured about $2000-2500 for the whole project, but through kickstarter individuals can donate as much as they want and if 200 people donate $10-15 then we will be good to go. This will especially be good for the future as I hope to use this to springboard towards something else I have felt compelled towards but will not disclose at this time.

The other good news is that I am doing this all completely divorced from involvement in church worship teams. Well, no that is a lie. I said I am a congregational bureaucrat, which is funny to say (maybe for me and Eric and no one else). After leaving a church in which my wife and I were not going through the membership process, in the span of 13 months we have gone from Baptist to Lutheran, from attenders to full voting members, and from participants to an elected member of the church council. Yes, that is right. You are now reading the words of the Worship and Music Committee chair of an ELCA congregation. Even I shiver at the thought, but it is true and I have 2 years to do as much damage as I can (just kidding Pastor). The best thing is that I am able to contribute as I like while assisting the Pastors however they wish, and we have so many talented people that I don't feel the compulsion to play.

There is more to say, but I want to leave something for tomorrow. In the meantime you can help me with something. I'm beginning to think about the artwork for my album. I would like not to have my face anywhere on it since that would not sell at all (I would probably have to pay people to take the CD). When you hear the word Treadweary what do you think of? I ask because it is going to have a part in naming. Either my "band" name (i.e. - me and my guitar), or the title of the album. I have 2 ideas in mind, one would be a man pulling a plow behind him as though he is the horse, or an old Model T or Cleveland automobile driving down a dirt road. I thinking of something drawn not photographed and have it be minimalistic in nature. I don't know. If any of you are artistic, which I know some of you are or you know someone who is, maybe we could have some sort of competition and whomever wins will get some sort of prize. Who knows I may be wasting my time here, but it is always worth a shot.

Salaam alaikum.

TW

A very first Christmas...

2010-12-21T16:06:00.002-06:00

It is the time of year to remember. A time when we look at a particular day in the year that brings so many memories, either good or bad. We also look back over the last year and ask questions of "what if?" or "why?". For many of us those questions hinge on this being a first Christmas without a certain person in our lives. Maybe they were taken from here too soon. Or maybe they were taken not soon enough. Regardless, this is a first for us.

I can remember the first Christmas I had after my grandmother died. There was an empty seat at the table where she used to sit. There wasn't as much music in the house. Even some of the laughter had gone.

There is hope though. If we look beyond ourselves, beyond our friends, and beyond our family, we will open our eyes in almost jealousy for those who have passed. Here in our pain and anguish of losing them in this life and losing their participation in so many things that have happened, we find hope in knowing that they are having a first Christmas too. Not in that they are now celebrating a special day for the first time in the presence of the Lord, but that each moment for them is that first Christmas. Just like the shepherds and animals who joined Mary and Joseph in the welcoming of the Redeemer, they are there before that same King who came for the sole purpose to bring them to Himself. They are looking into the same eyes that Mary saw for the very first time that night in Bethlehem. They are seeing the same smile, kissing the same feet, and grasping for the very same hands that were pierced to wash them clean.

Paul says "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." This life is but a reflection, even a vague representation of that to come. Something that will be lost here that we love will pale in comparison to the glories we will see in His presence as we breath our last. We can take solace in knowing that soon we will be with our loved ones before the Saviour seeing Him face to face. Until then be comforted my beloved in knowing that they are where we long to be and know nothing of pain or sorrow anymore. Truly their mourning has been turned into dancing and where they are we will be also, enjoying that first Christmas.

TW

The Light has come to children of men...

2010-12-16T08:40:00.003-06:00

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:1-4)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-14)

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:25-32)

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1-2)

As we enter our annual time of waiting and preparing for the King and His return, it is here that we are to see the light in which He has come. For in the beginning of the world, the Father chose to create light first and to divide it from the darkness. In so doing He spoke it into existence through His Word (that is Christ). When the fullness of time had come, He then sent His Word into the world in the form of a servant, but as a light to men to shine on our infirmities to lead us to the Physician. As a light to separate us from the darkness to become His ekklesia (the called out ones).

Even more glorious is to know that as the Father sought a people for Himself in the tribes of Israel, He knew beforehand that He would send His Word as a light unto the Gentiles (us) to graft us into His remnant. A salvation given for all peoples to draw together the sons and daughters of men to become children of God. Even more seen in the worship of foreign kings who saw His star and yearned to see the face of God in a baby born to die.

We must remember also that as this Light has come, and we anticipate its fulfillment in all things, we are to continue to be bearers of this light unto the world. Whether a burning ember or unquenchable fire, it remains a distinction to draw more people into the household of God.

Some of us may attend a candlelight vigil service this Christmas Eve. There we pass this light of the world to one another but then quench when we leave. Let us remember to keep it lit through this season so as to do the work of the Lord amongst the sons and daughters of men.

TW

Water is wet...

2010-12-05T21:15:00.003-06:00

I was thinking about something today that makes me wish to dialogue with you. If one does not believe in absolute truth can one still believe absolute falsehood? Is this why most truly post-modern thinkers sound like they were dropped too many times as a child? This comes up as I was discoursing on my own about ways to prove absolute truth.

It began this way for me. Take water and list some characteristics. The very first one that came to mind was "wet". Water is wet. This is both verifiable and incontestable. For if we are to play with the notion of dehydrated water, does it not then cease to exist because it is not their anymore? So then the term "dry water" would be an adsolute falsehood because dryness is the lack of wet which is a characteristic of water.

One could, however, also be in an airplane flying over Hawaii and look down to see the ocean and say that water is also blue. For the eyes have seen and thus can say it is blue. But when we were to go down to that spot of ocean and take a glass and fill it with that water it would cease to be blue. It may have sediment in it, but it would be clear. So then the idea "water is blue" fails and is then false. Water is NOT blue. It may look blue, but it is not blue.

Will this work the same with other arguments? It seems to be the biggest fight in Christianity today that we cannot know for certain absolute truth and that then we can not base any of our beliefs on truth, but only on faith. But even then we must be "humble" and admit doubt or else we look prideful for believing in something absolute.

In religion this seems to be common due to the inability to necessarily prove the existence of any deity through 1st person means. We may have evidence of causation, but we really cannot prove someone to be true or false, or take them down to the ocean to fill the glass as the metaphor might go. It is all based on faith which is almost as unscientific.

Yet if there is faith and hope in a truth we have come to believe as absolutely true, why is there a push to remove all faith, hope and truth from the picture based on scientific method? Is it a problem of trying to mix science with religion? Or is it a form of narcissism that sees doubt as some new form of piety? How are we to keep this doubt from becoming despair which can lead to depression or worse?

What the bigger issue could be is that, because we cannot necessarily prove the existence of a deity per se, we take that and consume all religious belief so as to make doctrine null and void and place all belief systems under one gigantic umbrella. An example would be the idea that Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are all the same. I know this is a tired argument, but how can they be the same? One says that Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose. Another says He never died. Another says He never rose. How can we lump them together if the central teaching of Christianity destroys that claim?

It is also interesting to note that this growth in religious homogeny tries to make differences in faith and belief something dangerous. Should we not allow for differences and do something even more amazing like tolerate each other and work together? Why should we not have Jewish, Muslim and Christian doctors working to mend the physical wounds in Afghanistan? Lets just not expect that all three should come together for an "ecumenical" worship service when neither of the three, if they know anything about their own faiths could honestly worship the others' deity. Sometimes differences are okay and good. Just don't make us all have to agree on the color of water from an airplane.

TW

An Acts 13 moment...

2010-11-30T20:13:00.004-06:00

It was an interesting evening. By the grace of God, every night before bed, we read a portion of the Bible and pray together as a family. After we were done, my daughter was talking about her friends at school and about how they were saying if they ask Jesus into their hearts they are going to Heaven. I spoke up and said that it really has nothing to do with asking Christ into her heart but that Christ died for her sins. This went on for a while, we prayed, and went to tuck the kids into bed.

Before putting our children down for the night, my wife stopped me and asked me if we should maybe go along with the whole pop-American Evangelical cliche and allow her to hope in her acceptance of Christ. I think in someways my wife is correct. However, I disagreed because, like many cliches, it is simply not true and somewhat dangerous.

Needless to say I went into my child's room to talk with her about these things. Suddenly, my precious daughter is overcome by only what I can understand as despair over her sin and fear of going to Hell. She is crying and can't get past this, and so I attempt to open up to her the truth of the Scriptures. The truth that 2000 years ago Christ climbed a hill outside of Jerusalem to die on a cross for the sins of the world and at the very moment He proclaimed, "It is finished!" and breathed His last, every sin we have or will ever commit sank to the deepest ocean floor. That, now because she trusts in this, she then partakes in this forgiveness. This is her hope. Even though she fears and has dread over death and Hell, I was able to take the chance to explain to her that regardless of what happens, Christ is faithful and He will not change.

For you see it works like this, you have a birthday. Unless you were born on February 29th, every year you celebrate the day where at one moment you were in your mother's womb, and the next you were not. The same works for us in the forgiveness found in Christ. At one moment there was no forgiveness of sins and we were left apart from God, but now we have hope that rests on nothing more or less than the historical fact that the Word of God in human form as a Jewish carpenter came to earth to pay the penalty for our sins. Therefore, He died once for all time, as it says in Hebrews, and our sins are forgiven. It is eternal and chronologically universal. We have been forgiven, we are being forgiven, and we will be forgiven.

The problem with the acceptance of Jesus mantra is that the hope and faith is placed more or less on that action, as though it is a magic formula or a truth disclosed through Scripture or tradition. I can remember saying the sinners prayer as a child and still having fear almost on a daily basis of being damned to Hell. I had no faith or trust in the reality and truth of the Gospel. This is the fear that I have for my children, unless I actually teach them.

Besides it is so simple. That is what I have come to love about Lutheranism. It has brought me back to the bare essentials of the Gospel. You see, Christ loves sinners. Because of this love for sinners He died to forgive sins, and through His resurrection He defeated death and the Devil and sits at the right hand of the Father waiting for the moment into which we shall be raised to new life. Those are our truths and hope in Christ and His Gospel. I tend to look to 1 John now when I wish to know this more:

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 Jn 4:9-10)

Anything other than these simple things is not the Gospel. Anything that adds "if" to the work of Christ on the cross is not Gospel but law, which does not save.

As I sat and talked and prayed with my daughter, I gave her something else to say. A different mantra: I am forgiven because I am loved. That is it. I am forgiven of all my sins, past, present and future, because I am loved by a God who is merciful, gracious, and loving. A God who, even though I deserve death and Hell, He saw fit to die so I may live. What freedom and truth.

In Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas are in Pisidia Antioch and Paul is asked to speak in a synagogue. It appears to be his first full sermon recorded in Scripture, but after briefly outlining the Law and Prophets, Paul proclaims to them the good news that is found in Christ.

Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38-39)

My beautiful daughter and I had our Acts 13 moment. We had our time to learn and hear of the hope and grace found in Christ and His forgiveness that He provides through His blood. What else can I say? I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great Saviour.

TW

Rooting for fruit...

2010-11-15T18:14:00.002-06:00

As I was on the treadmill today, I had a thought. I tend to do most of my thinking while punishing myself. I don't know if it is the extra oxygen to my tiny brain or the fact that it is the only hour I have where no one needs anything from me. Nevertheless, I was meditating on the teaching of Christ on the bearing of fruit. Where only a good tree can bear good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit or maybe none at all.

Quite often I figure that in the church we speak so much about the results of salvation and the fruit born out of years of trials and trusting that we very rarely take to tending the roots. For you see the tree that is to bear fruit must have deep roots that absorb daily nutrients in order to then grow fruit that is pleasing to the eye and taste. In order to keep the tree healthy, we must fertilize it to add nutrients and do pruning to make for the best results.

Likewise, as Christians, much of our time devoted to such care is one hour on a Sunday. Then in that hour we so often hear of all the fruit we must be producing that we never hear of the root, the foundation, the major source of growth for our life in Christ, which is Him. There is the rub. It is a life IN Christ. We must be built on Him and on the promise upon which we have placed our faith. A promise made clear through the bearing of a cross up a dusty road to the top of a mountain. A promise made known through forgiveness found in blood that was spilt, a body broken, and the words "It is finished." A promise fulfilled through an empty tomb and an ascended Saviour.

Yet that is old news, right? That is something that we think we hear once and can then just move on. Something that we hear and say "now what?" Now nothing. Our root, or even our cause for any fruit we bear is the daily realization, as we awaken for another day provided us by a gracious and loving God, that we have been forgiven our trespasses, we are being forgiven our wrongs, and will be forgiven our transgressions. That each Lord's Day, as we enter into worship with His people, we come bearing nothing that He needs nor nothing that we must, but receive all that we have from Him. For from Him and through Him and to Him are ALL things, and we are His sheep chosen to do His good works. That is what they are, His good works. Works that He does through us. So next time, when someone speaks to you of fruit that you are supposed to produce, ask a different question. Is Christ bearing any fruit through me or do my roots need tending?

TW

Not surprised...

2010-10-13T08:55:00.004-05:00

Recently it has been explained to me by friends that we are supposed to be heartbroken over the recent break-up of the Cox-Arquette marriage. I have been told that they were one of THE Hollywood couples. Coming from a family whose parents are divorced, I hate divorce. I never find it to be good at any point because it damages everyone involved. That's why God says He hates divorce. However, I am not surprised. This does not come from some inside information like TMZ or the market check-out counter. But it comes from just plain common sense.

You see, in most celebrity industries, whether it is film, TV, music, or print, it tends to walk hand-in-hand with narcissism. This is not a blanket statement, but you can tend to find that selfishness and selfcenteredness are regular bedfellows with celebrities and fame. It actually is a necessity for most people in the industry because of it's cut-throat nature. If you aren't willing to get your hands dirty, walk over the fallen, and undercut the person next to you, you will rarely go very far.

This goes completely against what is needed to help a marriage last and grow. It says in Ephesians 5 that as husbands we must be sacrificial, just as Christ was, in order to love our wives. We must not love ourselves more than we love our wives, and we must care for her just as Christ loved and cared for the Church so much that He gave His life for her to redeem her and wash her clean. In the same way wives are to submit to their husbands as the church is to submit to the Lordship of Christ. This does not mean slavery, but again it means self-sacrifice. It means everything that we consider to be ourselves must die so that we can love and be loved more fully.

This is different than what a lot of our churches tell us, isn't it? "Here are 7 tips to a happy marriage." "Here are 5 tips to a better sex life." We get told that the church must be relevant and that the Gospel is not the answer to everything. Read the previous paragraph again, and read Ephesians 5. The only way we can understand what marriage should be is by understanding what Christ has done for us and what our relationship is, as the church, with our Saviour.

I weep for Courtney and David, and for all the marriages that fail. I pray that their hearts would be captured by the grace of Christ and that they would find healing in the only place they can...the Cross.

TW

The importance of being earnest...

2010-10-12T11:46:00.005-05:00

I feel I did not expand enough on the importance of taking Communion regularly in my last point as part of understanding and remembering the promise of our Lord. It cannot be overstated as it is one of the vital forms of worship in all of Christianity. It is what differentiates all worship styles from a rock club or sterile mausoleum. It is also what binds all worship styles together in what must always be the family of God.

Regardless of the theological perspective of the communicant, the taking of the bread and cup must be an imperative. Not for the reasons given by some that say it is a means of grace for us through which God touches us in some way. This could be true, and I do feel as though it can or must exist, but there are other reasons too. First, it is always expressing the Gospel to all in attendance. Even if the preacher is horrible, the message is useless, and the music is boring, the few minutes taken to approach the Table of the Lord and receive His Body and Blood (whether truly or in symbol) will always proclaim His death until He comes again.

Secondly, it is a reminder to us of the promise of forgiveness that we have solely in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord. I have said it before but could you ever get tired of it? "The Body of Christ broken for you." "The Blood of Christ shed for you." One can go all week with horrible pain and anger. Exhausted by the ways we live out the days given to us, we spend 167 hours with our jobs, our friends, our families, settling disputes, disciplining tempers, telling jokes. But in that one solitary hour, on that one day in seven, we take a few minutes to walk ourselves to the Lord and have the chance to remember that the other 167 hours are all playtime in comparison to this one hour, this moment where we enter His courts and feast on His Heavenly Gifts.

Lastly, it is one of those things that mark us out as followers of Christ. One can say they are a Christian. One can even go to church. But once one chooses to take Holy Communion then they are always making a public declaration that they belong to the King. They are saying, "Yes, this is the Body of my Lord that was broken for me because I am a sinner in dreadful need of a Saviour, and this is the Blood of the precious Lamb which turns all my scarlet transgressions white as snow." In this way we must remember then not to take it lightly as though we are passing through the buffet line. This is the best thing about having to get up and go to Him and not wait for Him to pass to us. Then we have to make the conscious decision to leave our seat and allow people to see us take from the Table. Sitting in our seats we remain anonymous, and the community portion of Communion is lost.

This may be rehashing what has been written by me previously, but this is my blog. It is what I have been transfixed on as of late. I could talk politics since we have an election coming up, but that seems way too boring than talking about forgiveness, don't you think.

TW

Faith in a promise...

2010-10-11T11:02:00.002-05:00

I have wondered about the word faith lately. It means many things to different people. More often it seems to portray the idea of "substance." Something to be grasped...something physical. Didn't the writer of Hebrews say that it is "the substance of things hoped for?" At least that is the translation of our forebearers who worked for King James. Yet, is it? Is it something that we can hold in our hands? Is it some sort of talisman with which we can trade one's selfishness for peace-of-mind? Is it some prize to be won at the end of an argument for which the victor bestows upon the now downtrodden a form of last rites?

The Psalmist, and much of the Old Testament in fact, speaks of faith not necessarily as the physical gift of some new substance, but the all out trust or looking forward to the coming soon. In Psalm 106, the writer is retelling the history of disobedience that plummeted Israel into bondage and punishment from God for their sins. One of them listed, which jumps out to me most, is found in verse 24: "Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in His promise." It appears that the land they despised would be the desert. The wilderness for which they were "rescued" to by God. They were redeemed from bondage but then it seems placed back into another form of bondage. One in which they gained the physical freedom from their oppressors but lost the few freedoms they had in captivity. They lost the ability to obtain all the foods they wanted. Water had gone from available to luxurious. With this their praises to their Redeemer had become anger and exasperation for their wanderings.

Then again it could be given away as the land of Canaan due to the word "pleasant". If this is the case then what is to be despised? From it's description, the Promised Land would never run dry. Trees and crops would grow without issue, and provide a harvest that the children of Abraham had never seen. So were they despising the things given to them by God? Things for which they took by conquest against all odds, outside of Divine intervention? It can be seen as so. Especially once their disobedience against the covenant they made with God, and God made with them, caught up with them.

How does this impact the Christian? We can see it in the word "trust". This is the most common definition of faith. Christ comes saying "Repent and trust/believe/have faith in the Gospel." We must trust in the promise made to us. "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." We have been forgiven, our blemishes and stains bleached white. No matter what we have done, are doing or will do can remove the fact that on a hill outside Jerusalem one afternoon the Incarnate Word of God took upon Himself the sins of His people so as to ransom them for Himself. This is our promise of eternal life, because He has bought us from our sin and death.

Secondly, we can see it in the word "patience". We must be patient in knowing that the things for which we see from a distance and from afar will be coming soon. This is a difficult thing for a society that has no patience. We are a people who wait in line outside a department store on Black Friday to buy a bunch of crap we neither need nor want. We are a people who want to be the first to see a movie that we could see two weeks later without the lines, or be the first to own a particular book or video game even though we could buy the same book on sale at Target a month later.

It is always about "what have you done for me lately." Which is why people see pain as God being unloving, or loss as Him being ungiving. Except we live in an ungiving and unloving world corrupted on our own for our own motives. In someways we see it in mirror image as Israel. They had it bad in captivity, but their few creature comforts made it tolerable in comparison to the wilderness. Yet, this loss of luxury should have prepared them for the glories of Canaan. In the same way, Christians must look past this terrible place and look towards our hope in a world where there are no more tears, pain or death. Unfortunately our sin keeps us from focusing on that, and instead focusing on our sin and the sins around us.

So then we come back to this notion of faith, or hope as stated before. Is it something solid with size and weight and matter? Maybe. Is it something that matters? Yes. It is however something that can be nurtured. A decision, a longing that can be reborn each Lord's Day with His Table. Even through such little things as bread and wine, regardless of theology, reminds us each time of this hope that we have, this faith we hold. This understanding makes more comprehensible the failure of many of us to believe or remain faithful, even through attending church regularly, because we so often place our faith in an idea, a person, or a place. It could be a particular idea expressed by a particular person in a particular building. But ideas can be wrong, people almost always fail us, and buildings crumble. But if our faith, our trust, our hope is placed in an event. A solitary unrepeatable happening. A moment in which it was proclaimed, "It is finished!" What can be shaken? It already has happened. It can't fail. It is not an hypothesis. It is a happening. It is a promise. A gift. Now if only we would know it as a coming attraction and not only a current event. Although it is that too.

TW

Preaching on sin will change the world...

2010-08-26T16:05:00.002-05:00

We wonder sometimes why people always say that the church is full of hypocrites. Yet, if we would spend sometime each Sunday to preach on the depravity of man and the sinfulness even of Christians, this number would decrease. Instead we have "morally deistic" expectations of our congregations. We say we won't preach the law, and we always talk about ourselves as been saved, being saved, and will be saved, but we never talk about the Romans 7 man, the new Adam, that still finds it difficult to even attempt the right thing, let alone do it. Let's stop kidding ourselves and realize we are all imperfect sinners given mercy not only for what we have done, but what we will do. Instead of telling everyone what Christians should look like, speak like, or work like, we need to continue seeing ourselves as people who will still gossip, lie, cheat, steal, and lust, but try to fight it to our very last breath and have a Savior that is bigger than our failures.

TW